Stargate Millennium: Aftermath
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin-off series: As they begin to explore their new galaxy, they discover the fierri, a race on the brink of extinction. However, how fierri got like this may make the expedition think twice about helping them.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: This is a new spin off which means new characters and new setting. If you are new then I recommend you read the first episode so you know what's happening. Otherwise, please review and enjoy.**

**A/N: Second episode. I appreciate any and all support and constructive criticism is always welcome. Please tell me what you think of my story. What did I do well? What can I do better? Enjoy.**

******I also have put a trailer for this series on youtube.**

** watch?v=cFh4mIbxyko**

**Quick thing about the trailer: it is not just a bunch of random clips with music; I did not put it in there unless it was going to happen in one of my episodes (with a few obvious exceptions). It may be slightly different but similar enough that you can watch the trailer and point out which clip/audio came from which episode. If you see it in the trailer, it will happen in one of the episodes.**

**-.-**

**PROLOGUE**

It has been twenty years; it's been twenty years since the first team of humans was sent to Abydos. Thanks to the massive stone ring known as the stargate, Earth has made enormous leaps technology. They have a fleet of ships ready to defend their planet. They unlocked the secret of the lost city of Atlantis and the mysterious ninth chevron that led to Destiny. But, they had barely scratched the surface of the Alliance of Four Great Races. To this end, Earth has launched a new expedition to the fabled city Millennium, built by all four races. It's a new expedition in a new galaxy, and these are their adventures...

-.-

The Millennium: the crown jewel of the Alliance of the Four Great Races. In their quest to unlock the universe in the early days of their alliance, they built this massive city in space as a symbol of their new-found alliance and to explore the universe together. A massive space station that dwarfs Atlantis; the four races resided in the Millennium's four massive cities that resided inside the station's four arms while they worked together in the central city, the heart of the station. In the galaxy known to humans as NGC 300, further than any galaxy the tau'ri have reached before, the Millennium has long since been abandoned. The Millennium lay forgotten in space for thousands of years until its name and gate address was discovered in the Atlantis database. The opportunity travel to a city built not only by the Ancients but by the other three races of the Alliance was too much for the Earth governments to pass up. Over the course of several months they gathered a new expedition team composed of the best the Earth had to offer in order to discover this new realm. However, its distance is greater than any they have traveled before; they need three zero-point modules in order to make the trip there and the same amount if they ever hope to return. Until that time, the human expedition will explore their new home in a new galaxy.

It had been nearly a week since they arrived on the Millennium and everything was beginning to fall into place. The halls that were once clogged with stacks of crates and equipment had begun to clear. There were still a handful of stacks of crates but most of the equipment was already unpacked. In the infirmary, cabinets of medicine and equipment were set up with stretchers and hospital beds lining the sides. They found what looks like a firing range and had begun using it as an armory, racks of firearms and weapons lining the walls. There was a gym and the nearby closet was already full of recreational equipment.

The control room had been completely transformed. Without the mess of crates everywhere, people were able to move around easily. Computers and laptops were now set up on nearly every clear tabletop in the control room. Alien and human computers worked in conjunction to monitor control of the whole station. Dozens of people scurried about the control room while others sat at computers, quietly working.

"What are you doing?" Air Force Major Terra Nova asked as she walked into the Millennium control room fully geared up in her black uniform, a P90 cradled in her arms. Her long brown hair hung in a ponytail behind her head. Their alien ally, Corin Nevec, was at one of the laptops quietly typing away.

"Oh, General Mercer just wants me to make a list of the gate addresses that lead to Ror'char controlled planets," Corin paused to explain, gently brushing his short spiky hair. Corin spun around in his swivel chair to face her. "Steve said he's gonna cross reference my addresses with the Millennium database and blacklist them. Talk about him, where is he?"

When Corin said 'Steve', he meant Steven Chen, their cranky head of their technical department and specialist in interfacing alien technology with human technology.

"Steven's getting ready with Lieutenant Martin," Nova explained. "You better gear up too. We leave in twenty." With that, she turned and left down the hall.

Hearing this, Corin jumped to his feet and took off down the hall, nearly knocking the laptop off the table and running over several people. He loved exploring alien worlds.

"So, what do we know about this one?" Corin asked eagerly as he rushed to catch up with Terra.

"The MALP sent ended up in what looks like a warehouse," Nova explained as she walked down the hall. "So, there's probably intelligent life."

-.-

The stargate on the alien planet came to life as the wave shot forth from the stargate before settling into its event horizon. The shimmering blue wall of water rippled Nova stepped out, her P90 in hand, followed by Corin, whose only weapon was a Beretta holstered at his waist. Steven Chen stepped out, his MP5 slung over his shoulder, his stiff black hair hanging over his forehead like a hood. Charles Martin happily strolled out with a smile across his square face, his head covered by a carpet of brown hair, with a P90 in his right hand.

"Corin, what do you think?" Nova asked as she gazed around the massive chamber which was filled with stacks of boxes and crates. It almost reminded her of when they first boarded the Millennium, how they had to fill the halls like this. The only source of light came through the skylight in the ceiling, especially after the gate shut down, the wall of shimmering water vanishing behind the team.

"What's there to think?" Corin asked as he carefully looked around. "It's a warehouse. I don't think anyone's been here for a while." He dragged his finger across the surface of one of the crates, wiping off a fine layer of dust. Corin looked at the crate and began fumbling with the lock, trying to get it open. Martin was doing the same, fiddling with the clips that held the crates closed.

Chen was less interested in the crates and more interested in the DHD, knowing it was their only way back.

"You sure it's a good idea to start opening random boxes?" Chen asked as he made his way to the pedestal in front of the gate. "And, they don't listen," he grumbled as Martin and Corin continued fumbling with crates in an attempt to get them open. Chen reached over and yanked off the tarp covering the pedestal, dust flying into his eyes. He gazed upon the shiny metallic circular console. A large milky-white opal dome that sat in the center was surrounded by two rings of silvery tiles, each one with a symbol engraved in it. It didn't look damaged.

"What do you think?" Nova asked. "Storing this for a museum?" She remembered SG reports where civilizations put the stargate on display in a museum or as a monument, oblivious to what it could do.

"I don't know about that, mate," Martin said in his usual Australian accent as he opened one of the crates, a cloud of dust springing in the air. "These look like guns." He looked into the crate which was filled to the brim with firearms. He picked up one of them, closely analyzing it. There was something about the way it was built that made it seem like something that shoots bullets instead of an energy weapon.

Before any of them could say anything, a voice rang through the air: "That's because they are."

The four of them spun around and faced the doorway. Corin put his hands in front of him, as if he was gesturing that he was unarmed and friendly. Nova and Martin instinctively raised their weapons. It may not look friendly but if whoever was talking was hostile, fractions of a second would matter. Steven raised his weapon a second after Nova and Martin; not being military, he didn't have the same instincts as Charles and Terra.

At first, they thought they were staring at a line of statues when they saw a row of figures standing in front of the door. It only took a moment for them to realize that they were actually alien soldiers in dull gray metallic armor with weapons aimed at them.

Nova felt the adrenaline leak into her veins as she got ready for the worst, her finger stroking the trigger of her gun. A fight hasn't broken out yet, so she didn't get the tunnel vision that she usually got during a fight.

Corin looked from his team to the alien soldiers in front of them, hoping that this did not have to end with a firefight.

"We're not here looking for trouble," Corin said steadily, noting that they obviously knew English.

"You have weapons pointed at us," the alien soldier standing behind the line said. He must have been the leader, putting himself behind the line where he was safe and could give out orders. "Ours are only a response to yours."

"Then you can appreciate the irony of our situation," Nova said, gesturing toward the guns aimed at them. The alien commander paused as he thought about that. Just as they had their weapons in response to the ones pointed at them, these aliens only had weapons aimed in response to theirs.

"Then, we will both lower our weapons at the same time," he finally said. Martin and Nova exchanged glances. She gave them a nod of agreement. They both froze for a moment, waiting for the other to move. If one side lowered their weapons and the other fired, it would be a slaughter and neither of them wanted to risk it.

Finally, Martin, realizing both sides were still stiff, lowered his P90 a fraction of an inch. The alien soldiers did the same, only lowering their rifles a fraction of an inch as well. With that, he lowered his weapon a little more until it was pointing at the alien soldiers' feet. Nova, Chen, and the aliens did the same.

Seeing all the guns lowered, Corin put his hands down and gave a sigh of relief.

"Well then," Martin said, his gun now completely lowered. "That's much better." The tension in the air did seem to lessen with their weapons down, but they were still in a warehouse with alien soldiers whose intentions could be to secretly kill them.

The alien commander walked up front, stopping between the humans and his troops, looking around. He slowly placed his hands to his, grasping the helmet. There was almost a small pop as he lifted his helmet from his head, revealing his face to the team.

"Look familiar?" Nova asked Corin as they gazed upon the brown alien figure, whose bulbous bald head was fused directly to his body.

Corin just shook his head as he coughed, "People aren't exactly allowed to leave the Empire so I don't know many races outside the ones in the Empire."

"Well, we just made first contact with a race of baked potatoes," Martin commented when he saw the alien, whose head did look a baked potato with eyes, a mouth, and a goatee.

"Tell me then," the alien said as he put the helmet under his arm. "If you are not here to attack, then why are you here?"

Corin took a step forward as he began to explain, "We're just explorers. We came through the stargate."

The alien soldiers began whispering among themselves when they heard this. What exactly they were saying was hard to hear but Chen could tell by their tone that they were both surprised and skeptical.

"I'm Corin," Nevec said, gesturing toward himself. "That's Doctor Steven Chen." Chen gave an unenthusiastic wave. "Lieutenant Charles Martin and Major Terra Nova."

"My name is Crux of the Royal Guard," the alien commander said. He looked at Nova, carefully scanning her with his eyes.

"You're the leader," he concluded. Nova opened her mouth to speak but Crux cut her off. "I can see it in your eyes. You take responsibility for the lives of the other three." Nova felt complimented by Crux's comments and gave him a nod of gratitude.

"Major Terra Nova," she introduced.

"I think you should take a step forward," Corin suggested, noticing that Crux stood directly between them and his troops. "You have the leaders stand between two forces; it's like negotiating on neutral ground. It's a sign of trust and good faith."

"Corin," Chen suddenly spoke out. "You sure it's a good idea."

"Crux is standing between us and his men," Corin pointed out. "He's vulnerable. If we want to become allies we need to show that we aren't going to do anything."

"Charles," Chen called out, looking for some support.

"I think she'll be fine," Martin said. When Martin said this, Crux's expression changed.

"She?" he repeated in confusion. "You're a woman." Nova paused when she heard this as the soldiers behind Crux began whispering among themselves.

"Yes," she said cautiously. She felt her hands drift back to her gun. She didn't know what role women played in this culture but she's remembered reading an SG mission report about a culture that treated women as property and a team member, Captain Carter, was kidnapped as a result.

"Yes," Corin said, stepping in. He read the same mission report and was praying that this was not a similar case. "In their…our culture, women can rise to leadership positions."

Corin kept his eyes on the line of soldiers behind Crux. Their hands weren't at their weapons. They weren't getting ready for a fight. They looked like a small crowd watching a magic show. They weren't offended by the presence of a female. They were amazed.

"Apologies," Crux finally said. "You're just the first woman we've ever seen."

Nova gave a dry cough when she heard this, unsure how to react. Chen raised a confused eye brow. Corin found himself staring at Crux in disbelief at that statement while Charles had to stop himself from laughing.

"In fact," Crux added. "You are the first woman on this planet in over fifty years."

STARGATE

MILLENNIUM

Forming a new alliance with any race was not something that could happen overnight. There is always paranoia when forming an alliance with an alien race, always the chance that the aliens they were negotiating with are not as friendly as they claim. However, the possibility of an alliance outweighed the risks and Major Nova's team found themselves moving back and forth between the planet and Millennium to discuss everything with the leader of the whole expedition: General William Mercer. Corin and Steven had stayed behind in the hopes of learning more about this new race: their culture or technology.

Nova and Martin returned and were in Millennium's conference room, a silvery room with a balcony where people can look out over the stargate. A large U-shaped table sat in the center of the room with Terra Nova and Charles Martin sat on one side. General Mercer sat on the other, his hands folded in front of him as he listened attentively to the debriefing.

"An all-male society?" General Mercer repeated once Nova and Martin were done talking.

"Yes, sir," Nova answered simply. "They call themselves fierri. According to Crux, they don't know why but the female birth rates of fierri plummeted over a hundred years ago and eventually hit zero. No one knew why and couldn't fix it."

"After that, their women all eventually passed from old age," Martin added. "They also have a naturally shorter life expectancy, average of sixty instead of the human average of eighty."

"How exactly do they maintain a civilization like this?" Mercer asked. A world without women may sound silly, an argument a child would have over whether or not the world needed girls, but it would also mean that the birthrate would be zero and everyone would eventually pass away.

"Cloning," Terra answered. "At the end of their life, they transfer their minds into clone bodies."

"Their problem is like the Asgard's," Martin explained. "The Asgard had no way of…well…" Martin's voice trailed off as he tried to find an appropriate, and subtle, word for it.

"Reproducing," Nova answered for him.

"I was getting there."

"You were taking too long."

"The Asgard's solution was cloning to extend their lifespan while they attempted to find a solution," Mercer said, remembering their old alien ally. "However, repeated cloning resulted in genetic degradation. I assume they are also suffering from the same affects."

"That and more," Nova continued. "Their cloning isn't anywhere near as good as the Asgard and their clone bodies are degrading even faster. They can't transfer their conscious as efficiently either. They can only do it so many times. Their problem is also their population size. The Asgard still numbered in billions. Their population is already only a couple thousand. Every time one of them dies, they're gone for good; natural disaster, diseases. If they don't fix whatever happened to them, they're going to go extinct within a few decades."

"General, I think a couple of our doctors or geneticists could figure this out for them," Charles suggested. "If we can figure out what happened to them, we might be able save their race."

"As much as I sympathize with their condition, we are in no position to help them," Mercer said. Martin froze when he heard this, stunned that they were refusing to help a race that could go extinct.

"General," Martin protested.

"Lieutenant," Mercer interrupted. "I understand your desire to help them, but it not our duty to solve every problem in this galaxy."

"General, the SGC and Atlantis did help solve many of the problems that plagued the galaxy they were in," Nova argued. She wanted to help the fierri as much as Martin did, but she knew that getting all worked up would not help.

"I am well aware, Major," Mercer said calmly. "As I am aware that they did so under specific circumstances."

"Circumstances?" Charles repeated, eye brows raised. He was always told that General Mercer was a great man, and now the General was denying help to a group of people in need.

"Yes," Mercer said bluntly, closing his eyes as if he was going to meditate. "For one: they only helped those in need once they were properly established. This is something we are definitely not."

Charles gave an annoyed groan when he heard this. Mercer didn't seem pleased by Martin's agitation. The General's eyes opened but only a crack, his facing turning into a menacing glare.

"Power fluctuations have been affecting refrigeration and much of our food has begun to spoil," Mercer explained, his voice darkening. "And, we still lack a source of clean water."

"What about the ocean planet, P58-JY9?" Nova asked.

"The ocean water on that planet is contaminated by microorganisms that we have been, thus far, unable to exterminate," Mercer said gruffly. "Remember why I sent you on this mission: we need additional power to power up the factories and the green houses that lie on the station's arms. If we can power those up, we can at least maintain a stable food supply. Our resources are taxed the way it is. The only reason we're seeking allies right now is because we need help. I understand that you want to prevent the extinction of the fierri, but if we continue on the course we are on, we will die long before they do."

Martin threw his hands up in defeat. There was no changing the General's mind.

"Now," General said firmly, getting back on topic. "Judging from the reaction of the fierri, we are not the first alien race that they've encountered."

"No, they actually used to have their own stargate program," Nova said. "They said it was a couple years ago."

"They were hoping to find an alien race that could help them find a cure," Martin added forcefully.

"They shut the program down because of the Ror'char. They were afraid that they might provoke an attack. So, we're the first friendly alien race they actually met."

Nova remembered the Ror'char: the first alien civilization they ran into when they reached the Millennium, an empire that believes in peace through absolute control and will subjugate every civilization to achieve that 'peace'.

"Then, are they willing to establish an alliance and trade relations?" Mercer asked.

"We're not sure," Nova said. Mercer raised a confused eyebrow. "Crux took us to the Prime Minister of their people. They say that they're willing to negotiate with us but they've refused to give us any of the things we asked for, including a power source."

"Obtaining a power source is our top priority," Mercer stressed.

"Yes, sir. They're open to the idea of negotiating an alliance but they're still reluctant to trust us. They let Corin view this historical archives as a gesture of good faith but refused to let Chen study their technology."

"And you haven't been able to convince them otherwise?"

"We were able to convince them to give us a week's worth of food, given our current condition," Nova said. "But, they said they want something in return for things like a power source."

"Such as?" Mercer asked. Nova and Martin exchanged glances, almost as if they were arguing who was going to tell him.

"Help solving their problem," Martin finally answered. Martin hoped that this new information would convince the general to send help. Mercer opened his mouth to speak but Martin immediately cut him off. "I know, our resources are a little stretched. But, if we help them, they might be a little more willing to help us."

Mercer was silent when he heard this and gave a slow sigh. He didn't think that they should help the fierri, and still doesn't. But, it might be the only way to get what they need.

"Very well," Mercer finally conceded. "I can spare Doctor Osborn but that's all."

"Thank you, sir," Nova said with a nod.

"Dismissed."

With that word, Terra and Charles rose to their feet and prepared to leave.

"One moment, Lieutenant Martin," Mercer called out as he slowly stood up, folding his arms behind his back. Nova looked back over her shoulder to see what was happening but Martin then said, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up." Nova gave a nod and walked off.

Martin turned and faced his boss.

"Yes?" Martin asked indignantly. Mercer slowly made his way around the table, taking his time with each step.

"I understand your frustration, Lieutenant," he said calmly. "I understand that you want to help the fierri. However, I also want you to understand my position. I am the leader of this expedition; I am in charge of every individual and, as a result, I am responsible for what happens to every individual. The people in this station are my first and only concern. We may help alien races in need as we come across them, but only if it will not be at the cost of everyone under me. Do you understand?" Martin was quiet for a moment before answering.

"I do," he said, but Mercer could not tell if he was being sincere or not.

"Dismissed."

-.-

The fierri government library looked like a small palace. Wooden bookshelves lined the white marble walls of the main hall, which amplified almost every sound made. Even Corin's and Steven's footsteps echoed for everyone to hear; it was a good thing the only ones here were a few government aides. Even from the ground, they could see the second floor bookshelves that were by the balcony. Massive glowing orbs floated in the middle of the chamber like chandeliers, filling the room with light.

The fierri seemed to have some universal traits. The average fierri seemed slightly shorter than the average human. Chen and Nova were the two shortest members of the team and the fierri only reached their shoulders. They didn't know if the women were different but none of the fierri had any hair except for a goatee. Their skin came in a variety of shades of brown but always brown and they always looked potatoes.

"Over here," Crux said as he led Steven and Corin to a room at the back. Being the captain of the squad that first met the humans, the fierri government assigned Crux to give the humans whatever they want…within certain limits.

The wooden doors that led to the back room squeaked open as the three of them entered a small marble room. It looked like a private study with a wooden table and chair sitting in the center. A large lamp hung over the table and a stack of thick books.

"Holy…crap," Chen muttered when he saw the stack of books. Each one was the size of a visual encyclopedia or atlas and was as thick as dictionary.

"This is our planetary diary," Crux explained. "Every month, our leaders must fill a diary of what has transpired. Though, the same information can be found on our computers."

"Nah," Corin said eagerly as he plopped down on the chair. He shoved the stack of books to the side, letting him slide the top one in front of him. "Computer records can be changed. There one day, gone the next. Never trust computers. Paper, however, can't just be changed. You have to destroy what's already down."

"Yes yes yes," Chen said dismissively. "And you can't show me any of your tech?" he asked Crux.

"Prime Minster Pavell does not wish for you to view our technology just yet," Crux answered.

"You could help me read this," Corin suggested as he opened the book.

"Pass."

"C'mon. Best weapons in the world." Corin looked up but noticed Chen was just giving him a blank stare.

"It's a joke," Corin explained with a slight laugh. "A man visits an alien planet and says I need to buy weapons. He's lead to the book store and the aliens tell him 'best weapons in the world'." Corin smiled to keep back his laugh but Steven was still not amused. -_-

"Steven, Corin, you there?" Nova's voice suddenly came through the radio, words echoing through the whole library, the volume amplified by the solid marble walls. The library may have been mostly empty but the few government aides there gave him some very annoyed hushes.

"Corin, Steven, we've brought some help. Can you hear me?" Nova asked again, followed by more hushing. Chen groaned in annoyance as the fierri librarians kept hushing him.

"Radio silence requested for a moment," Chen grumbled. He knew he wasn't technically supposed to 'request radio silence' since it was a term he was only supposed to use when he was surrounded by enemy forces and risked getting heard, but did not care for the semantics of it nor did he want to keep being hushed by everyone in the library.

"Corin, you gonna be fine without me?" Steven asked Nevec, who already had buried his face in the book.

"Yeah, I got this," Corin said so absentmindedly that Chen wondered if his alien friend actually heard him.

"Stay here then. I'm going to meet up with Terra."

"If your colleague is staying here then I have to come with you," Crux said.

"Whatever," Chen scoffed, shaking his head in annoyance as he left.

Crux and Steven barely left the room for a second before Steven's head popped back in.

"You have your gun, right?" he asked Corin.

"Yeah, it's right here," Corin said, patting his holstered Beretta. "Not like I know how to use it," he muttered as Chen closed the door behind him.

-.-

The massive wall of shimmering water that was the event horizon of the stargate shut down the moment the travelers were through.

"Man, it's nice to have a change in scenery," Doctor Osborn said cheerfully the moment she stepped through, her sleek brown hair, which became wavy at the very end, bouncing by her shoulders. Massive black cases of medical equipment hung in her hands and bounced off the side of legs as she made her way down the ramp. She wore a black uniform similar to Martin and Nova's but lacked the packs of military equipment; instead, she wore a large backpack. She looked up at Martin and Nova, who stood on either side of her.

"Hey, wait till you see the blokes you're gonna be working with," Martin joked. "They're a race of potato heads. You know what, that's what I'm gonna call them: the potato heads."

"I think they might find that insulting," Nova said as the three of them made their way down the ramp from the gate.

"I don't think they'll know what a potato is," Osborn pointed out. "Alien planet, doubt they have the same foods as us."

As the three of them approached the door at the side they could hear muffled talking behind it.

"Reception party?" Nova wondered aloud. This was the second alien society they met, and the first friendly one. She was hoping that they could just walk about without having to worry about guns pointed at them.

The door suddenly squeaked open as Steven Chen suddenly walked in.

"Crux," Nova greeted as she, Martin, and Osborn reached the door. Chen looked at the three of them, but his eyes fell on Osborn. "This is our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor-"

"NO," Chen suddenly said, immediately slamming the door shut.

"Oi," Charles called out indignantly, not appreciating a door slammed in his face.

"What was that?" Nova wondered out loud, staring at the door in disblief.

"Oh, it's nothing," Osborn answered, rolling up her sleeve and looking at her watch. "He's always like that. He'll be back in…3…2…1…" There was an awkward silence when Chen didn't come back through the door once Osborn's countdown ended.

"Think your watch might be a bit fast there, mate" Martin whispered when the door didn't open. The moment he said that, the door burst back open, revealing Steven Chen and a confused Crux behind him.

"Kara," Chen said to Osborn. "What…are you doing here?"

"Helping an alien civilization," Kara answered with a cheerful shrug.

"No! I mean here; like…this galaxy 'here'," Chen yelled in disbelief.

"I volunteered for this."

"I told you to stay on Earth."

"I didn't listen."

"You do that a lot."

Nova loudly cleared her throat.

"As much as I would love to see this drama unfold," Nova said, amused by the banter between Steven and Kara. "We have work to do." Crux looked at her for an answer. "General Mercer has granted your request for help in finding a cure. This is our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Osborn."

"Hey," Kara said as she set down one of her suitcases and extended her hand for a shake. Crux just looked at her in confusion.

"We appreciate the assistance," Crux said. Kara put her hand down when Crux didn't shake it. "There is an old lab set up not far from here. One of our scientists used to work on a solution there."

"Yeah, you pointed it out on our way down here," Chen commented.

"So you know where the lab is?" Nova asked. "Then you can escort Doctor Osborn to where it is."

Steven felt his jaw drop at this. He opened his mouth to protest but Nova cut him off.

"That is an order, Chen," Nova said firmly. "Crux and I will go speak with Prime Minister Pavell and Martin will watch over Corin. That leaves you to escort Osborn."

"You're getting a kick out of this, aren't you?" Chen asked, unamused. Nova didn't say anything but Chen could see a small smile on her face.

"My research can go a lot faster if I can see what research you already have," Kara Osborn suggested.

"There is a computer in the laboratory," Crux explained. "It should have all the relevant data."

"Cool," Kara said enthusiastically. "C'mon Steven." Chen had the most annoyed look on his face as he led Kara down the street.

"Don't have her out past twelve!" Charles called out as they left.

"Shut up," Chen barked back.

"You know where the library is?" Nova asked Martin, who was still snickering. He could still see Chen's agitated face in his mind.

"Yeah, just five buildings down from 'ere," he said, holding back a laugh.

"Good. Meet up with Corin. See if he's found anything."

"Yes ma'am," Martin said as he walked off with a smile.

"Crux," Nova said, turning to face him. "I'd like to speak to Prime Minister Pavell again."

-.-

"Did I ever mention my undying hatred for you?" Chen asked in agitation as he looked at the table piled with medical equipment.

"You probably have and I didn't pay attention," Kara said as she passed a sample in a petri dish under a microscope. "Quiet for sec, I need to see something." Kara rushed back and forth between the medical equipment and the fierri computer. It was surprisingly similar to a human laptop. The positioning of the letters on the keyboard was slightly different but it used the same letters. Still, Kara preferred using her own laptop and only used the fierri laptop to read notes from previous doctors and researchers.

"Onto something?" Chen asked.

"Just checking what these people already have," Osborn said as she typed at the computer. When she looked up she noticed Steven was still staring at her for an answer.

"These people are plagued by a multitude of problems," Kara explained. "But, all these problems stem from having an all-male society, which the mere notion is scary."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steven barked when he realized she was insinuating something.

"Oh, nothing," she said with a shrug, brushing her hair back over her shoulder. "Anyways, this all started as a result of the female birthrate hitting zero. I'm more likely to figure that out than trying to solve the cloning issue."

"Find anything then?"

"Well," Kara said, taking a kit out of one of the suitcases. "I found out what's the problem, just need to find the solution."

"Cool," Chen said, unenthused. "What's the problem?"

"Sex-determination."

"What?"

"It's just something that every person uses," she explained as she walked back to the laptop and brought up a zoomed image of the cells in the petri dish.

"I work with machines, Kara," Steven pointed out. "I'm not good with anything that involves people."

"Yeah, tell me about it," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"What'd you say?!"

"It seems their biology has been altered to be like this," Kara quickly said, changing the topic. "There's something wrong with the sex-determination."

"The x and y chromosomes," Chen said, partially catching on.

"Yup. Double x for female and xy for male."

"Ok…then what's the problem?" Steven asked impatiently. Kara stopped working and turned to look at him.

"The sex of a child is determined by the father, will he pass on an x or a y chromosome to the offspring?" she explained.

"Basic biology."

"For some reason, their biology is rejecting the second x chromosome. In fact, their body is actually rejecting any female characteristics. It's even fatal."

Steven Chen was not even going to pretend he knew what Kara was doing as she made her way to the back of the room. He noticed that the wall of the lap was covered in cabinet doors but he had no clue what was in them.

Chen groaned in disgust as Kara opened the door of one of the cabinets, revealing the body of a dead fierri, a white cloth covering most of his body. It was obvious from the lack of odor that it was well preserved.

"That's mess up," Steven muttered.

"He's still alive," Kara said as she grabbed a surgical mask. "They transferred his mind to a clone body and he donated this one so researchers could find a cure."

Chen still didn't like it. He knew autopsies were necessary but, to him, it still felt like desecrating the dead. Even if he didn't know who it was, he still wanted to give them respect.

"Well then," Kara said as she slipped on a pair of gloves. "Let's get started."

-.-

Night had begun to fall by the time Martin reached the library, filling the hall with an eerie silence. Most of the government aides had left, so he didn't need to worry about disturbing anyone, and the only light came from the orbs in the air.

"Corin," Martin called, his voice echoing through the hall. "Corin, little lost here."

"Back here," a voice called from behind a book shelf. Martin peaked around the shelf and saw Corin walk out with a stack of small books.

"What're you doing?" Charles asked, eyeing the small stack of books.

"Just extra research," Corin said as he walked past him and toward the private study room.

"You're able to read that?" Martin asked as Corin opened the study room doors with his shoulder.

"Of course, it's in English," Corin said as he set the books down.

"Yeah, but don't you find it weird that nearly every alien race we've encountered can speak English?" Martin asked as he closed the door behind them.

"We think it's the proto-human language," Corin said as he flipped a book open. He took an energy bar from his sack and started munching on it. "We speculate that all the races in this galaxy originated from the four races that built the Millennium; humans came from the Ancients, the sireens came from the Asgard, and so on and so forth. We think that they also passed on their languages, the proto-human language, the original language, and that the languages then followed the same evolutionary pathways. It starts the same and changes the same way. Since your people are human that means that you came from one of the races of the Alliance which means you probably inherited your language form them too and it followed the same pathways into the language we speak now. Pretty cool, huh?"

Corin looked up from his book but found that Martin had picked up a magnifying glass, used to read the books with the really small letters, and was making faces through it.

"I'm sorry, what you say?" he said, realizing Corin had stopped talking. Corin opened his mouth to explain again but didn't feel like repeating the whole statement.

"Expect to find more English-speaking aliens," Corin said promptly before going back to his book.

-.-

Nova stepped into the massive white stone chamber with Crux coming in right behind her. A grid of seats was laid out in front of a massive stone stand that rose high above the floor. A wall of guards were standing right in front of the stone stand; body guards to the prime minister. Terra did insist that they be allowed to keep their weapons and the fierri weren't just going to let aliens with guns talk to the prime minister without some protection.

The seats around the stone stand may have been empty but at the stand, wearing a black suit, was fierri Prime Minister Pavell.

"Major Terra Nova," he said slowly in a mechanical, almost monotone voice. Nova remembered Martin's reaction when they first met the Prime Minster, he made a comparison to Star Wars; Martin said the fierri Prime Minister was a male Amidala, whatever that meant. "Welcome back."

"It is an honor to be granted this audience," Nova said formally with a small bow.

"Will your associates not be joining us?" The fierrie Prime Minister's voice was so monotone it was almost painful to listen to.

"Not this time," Nova said. "I believe that I am adequate in negotiating an alliance." Nova thought about how things would go if they were still back on Earth. A proper ambassador would have been sent to negotiate. However, they didn't bring anything like that with them to the Millennium so the team leaders were to act as ambassadors when negotiating.

"We've granted your request for help in finding a cure," she continued.

"Yes, so I have been told."

"I am hoping that we can negotiate for a trade for some technology, perhaps even a power source."

Pavell was silent for a long moment, as if he didn't want to say the unchanged answer.

"I am sorry, but nothing has changed since you last asked," he droned. "We appreciate the assistance you are providing but assistance is not the same as a cure. You still have not given us adequate reason for neither a trade nor an alliance."

Nova groaned in annoyance. This might take longer than she thought.

-.-

"Why were you wandering the library?" Charles asked as he quickly began to get bored.

"Was just looking up something," Corin said as he took a bite of his energy bar and kept reading. Martin could not help but notice Corin was a lot tenser than before.

"Looking up what? I thought they gave you all material on their history."

"Yeah, they didn't."

"What's that mean?" Martin asked as he looked out the window, looking at the moon…and the moon's moon. "Corin?" Martin asked when he didn't get a response.

"Where's Terra?" Corin asked, shocked by what he just read. He put his energy bar down as he read the page again to make sure he wasn't misinterpreting anything.

"Capital building," Martin answered, turning to face him. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way," Corin said, standing up so fast that the chair was knocked over.

-.-

"With all due respect, Prime Minister Pavell, if we don't receive supplies or a power source, we may not survive long enough to find a cure," Nova argued. "We are the first civilization that's helping you."

"So, the only reason you've rendered any assistance convince me to give you some of our technology," Pavell concluded. Nova wanted to deny it but he was right.

The discussion didn't continue. At that moment, the doors behind them burst open as Corin Nevec and Charles Martin rushed in, followed by a small army of guards that didn't like the fact that a pair of armed aliens just rushed into the capital building.

Nova could tell from the looks of both Corin and Charles that there was something wrong.

"When were you going to tell us?" Corin blurted as he walked in.

"Corin, what are you doing?" Nova asked, knowing this would not look good for negotiating an alliance.

"We're trying to find the truth, Major" Martin said firmly, his hands on his weapon.

"Truth?" Pavell repeated, almost offended by their tone. "Truth about what?"

"THE NEW GENESIS WAR!" Corin shouted. That name must have meant something; Pavell twitched uncomfortably in his seat, realizing that their visitors have discovered the truth. Several of the guards began whispering to each other, wondering what to do. Even Crux looked disturbed.

"Corin, you want to explain?" Nova asked, her hands flying to her weapon at the reactions of everyone in the room.

"You tried to hide it from me," Corin said accusingly. "I was reading the planetary diaries but realized there were pages missing, just ripped out; something that you didn't want others to see. You hid a lot of it but you weren't able to hide all the books; I was finally able to find some that told me what I needed to know."

Corin began angrily pacing the room as he explained.

"It started about a hundred years ago. Your civilization was divided into a multitude of countries throughout the planet. Sure they had different cultures, traditions, and beliefs, but they were all fierri. But you guys didn't see them that way. So, a hundred years ago, your little country declared war on the rest of the world. But, you weren't aiming to force them to surrender, or to give up land or resources; you aimed at mass genocide. Even in your own country, you arrested and executed hundreds of people because they were foreign."

Nova stared wide eyed at the Prime Minister, realizing who they nearly allied themselves with.

"You had a pretty big advantage," Corin continued. "You stockpiled an arsenal of nuclear, biological, and chemical that would crush the other superpower countries in one surprise attack. While it evened the odds for you, you were caught off guard by how quickly they recovered. For almost two decades, the rest of the world threw everything they had at you while you slowly and systematically destroyed the rest of the world. They couldn't use big drastic weapons, you always found a way to counter that. They launch nukes, you improve your missile defense capabilities. They had to hit you with something subtle, something you wouldn't notice until it was too late. They tried a bio-chemical weapon that would cause mass sterility but it was still too drastic; your government realized what was happening when birthrates just turned to zero and you 'purified' area it was spreading from. They had to use something more subtle. So, they made a bio-chemical weapon that would permanently change your physiology, make it impossible for a female fierri to exist; a slow and subtle destruction. You finally won, but they had already unleashed their weapon."

"So this whole situation…" Nova said.

"Is a result of their genocide," Martin finished. "They brought this on themselves."


	2. Chapter 2

Nova looked at the fierri in disgust, realizing who they nearly allied themselves with. They had been so eager in their search for allies and technology, they didn't care where they got it from. But, they did now.

"Martin," she said. "Radio Chen and Osborn. We're out of here,"

Martin nodded in agreement as they all turned to leave.

"Wait!" Pavell suddenly called out, his cold monotone voice replaced with shock and panic. Hearing their leader yell out like that immediately set his guards on high alert, raising their weapons. Seeing a potential hostile raise their weapon like that always triggers a chain of reactions in a soldier. Martin and Nova didn't hesitate to raise theirs and take aim. Martin fell to one knee so that Nova, who stood behind him, could fire without worrying about hitting him. Corin yanked out his Beretta and took aim. Then…nothing. Neither side fired, both sides waited for the other to make their move.

"Please," Pavell pleaded. "Put your weapons down."

"Not a chance," Nova snapped back. She thought about how they encountered the fierri when they first arrived to the planet. They put their weapons down then but things had changed. Now they knew who they were dealing with.

"Soldiers, I am ordering you to put your weapons down!" Pavell shouted again. "DO IT!" Nova then realized that Pavell wasn't shouting at them but at the fierri guards. He was ordering his own people to put down their weapons. The guards exchanged uncertain looks but they slowly lowered their weapons. Nova and her team looked up in surprise but they didn't dare lower theirs.

"Minister," Crux protested, not lowering his gun.

"Do it, Crux,"Pavell ordered. Crux grumbled before finally lowering his gun. Nova and her team kept their weapons level, not daring to move. It looked like they were safe but they weren't going to take any chances. Pavell could still see their mistrust the three had, even with all the guns lowered.

"Leave us," the Prime Minister told his guards. The idea of leaving the leader of their people alone with armed aliens didn't seem like a good idea to the fierri guards, but they obeyed.

"Prime Minister," Crux said as the rest of the guards left the room. "I would like to stay. It's not safe."

"Very well," Pavell said as the doors to the room closed. The fierri stood up from the massive stone stand and made his way to the ground. Nova and Martin fixed their weapons on Pavell as he walked up in front of them, his hands in the air.

"Please," he said. "Before you do anything, hear our side of the story?"

"If you're going to try to justify what you did then save it," Nova spat. "We're not interested.

"I don't intend on justifying what our **ancestors** did," Pavell said.

"You massacred billions of people," Martin breathed. "And for what?! Because they were different?! What you're experiencing is just the aftermath of your war."

"We just spent the past few hours negotiating for a trade and alliance," Pavell pointed out. "If we really were the same as our forefathers, why did we not shoot you on sight? You are more different from us than the people of the other countries of this planet."

Nova paused when she heard this, quietly admitting that he had a point. She didn't know what a fierri in a foreign country looked like but she doubted they would look as different as a human.

"Put your weapons down," Nova said hesitantly, putting her gun down. Martin and Corin looked at her disapprovingly, not liking that idea.

"Put it down, guys," Nova repeated. Martin lowered his P90 while Corin holstered his Beretta, both of them reluctant to release their weapons even once they were away.

"Thank you," Pavell sighed, putting his hands down. He could still see the mistrust in the eyes of the aliens, even after all his reassurances.

"We'll listen to what you're selling," Nova said darkly, her hands still on her weapon. "But, it doesn't mean we're buying."

-.-

Chen wanted to dive into the fierri computer, split it open and take a look at the computer chips it used, crack open its files and see its programming. But, Doctor Osborn was using the computer to read past medical notes and he couldn't pry it open while she was using it.

He found himself utterly bored and was trying to amuse himself by spinning himself in a swivel chair. He picked up a newspaper laying at the side, hoping there was a good story to keep himself busy.

"THREE MORE MURDERS IN THE PAST TWO DAYS. BODY COUNT UP TO SIXTY FIVE," the headline read. Chen read about five lines into the article before he lost his patience and chucked it to the side.

"You know, you don't have to stick around to guard me," Kara said as she ran another simulation on her computer, noticing how bored Steven looked.

"Terra told me to keep an eye on you," Chen grumbled, spinning around in a swivel chair. He slung his head back and watched the ceiling tiles spin. Like a lot of earth buildings, the ceiling was made of tiles with all sorts of stuff inside. He didn't know what the tiles here were made of but they looked like copper or something along those lines.

"You're gonna be watching me for a while 'cause this is going to take that long," Kara said as she walked away from her rack of petri dishes and samples.

"These guys are at least a hundred years ahead of us in tech," Chen pointed out as he used his foot to continue to spin the chair. "They couldn't figure it out. Why do you think we can?"

"We do have the medical database of Atlantis and the Millennium," Kara said as she went over the test results while Chen continued spinning. "I mean, like, granted, we probably can't figure this out by ourselves but the Alliance's medical database might help us find a solution."

Chen narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He could have sworn he just saw one of the tiles bounce. He would've brushed it off as nothing, but then the tile beside it bounced, then the one beside that did the same. It was as if there was something in the ceiling moving around.

"Something wrong?" she asked when she saw Chen rise from his chair, staring at the ceiling. His eyes were locked on the tiles, afraid that he was going to miss something if he looked away or blinked

"I need a stick," he said as he stared at the ceiling tile that just bounced in place. "Get me a stick."

"Pull the stick out your ass and use that," Kara said as she took out a scalpel.

"Oh, you're funny," Chen grumbled sarcastically. He looked around the room, trying to find some sort of pole or long rod. There wasn't anything in sight that he could use. He had to do it the old fashioned way. Chen slid the chair he was sitting on under the tiles he just saw move, his MP5 in hand.

"That doesn't look safe," Kara said worriedly, realizing what Steven was about to do. She slipped off her mask and glove, quickly washed her hands, and walked over to hold the chair still. Standing on a chair with wheels did not seem like a good idea.

"Something's not right," he mumbled as he stood up on the chair, barely putting the ceiling in reach of his gun. He would admit that he was glad Kara was holding the chair still for him; he could feel the wheels gently rolling side to side. If he shifted his weight too fast, the chair will fly out from under him and send him crashing to the ground.

Chen slowly raised his weapon to the ceiling, pressing the end of the barrel against the tile. He couldn't think of a reason why someone would hide up in the ceiling but it seemed like someone was hiding up there. He then pushed against his gun, lifting the ceiling tile just a crack. Sand, dust, and silt trickled from the crack and rained to the ground in a fine shower. Fine strings of insulation gently floated out of the ceiling and toward the ground. Chen cringed and looked away, the tiny particles agitating his eyes.

"Watch it," Kara called out from below as the cloud of dust rained on her. She shielded her face with her arm so it wouldn't get into her eyes but she could already foresee at least an hour in the shower trying to get it out of her hair.

-.-

Terra Nova maintained her suspicious glare as Prime Minister Pavell took a seat in one of the chairs.

"We don't know much about the other cultures that used to reside on this planet," Pavell said with a guilty sigh. "Everything about them, as far as we know, has been destroyed."

"Yeah, we got that bit," Martin said in disgust.

"But, we have the texts written by our people at the time," Pavell continued. "Our people, especially those in power, believed that the other races of this planet were different because they were…impure. So, they began the New Genesis War."

"Named because it was supposed to mark the dawn of a new age," Corin said, remembering what he found in the texts. "The age where your race was the only race on the planet." Pavell simply nodded, not denying anything.

Martin thought about earlier, how he had pleaded General Mercer to help the fierri. Now, he was ashamed that he had even considered doing such a thing. He was always like this, impulsively rushing head-first to do something merely to regret it later.

Nova did not form an opinion, not yet. She wanted to hear everything that Pavell had to say first. But, she could not help but wonder if he was simply pretending to be guilty.

"It was my grandfather's time," Pavell said. "I wasn't even born yet…neither was my father. But, records show that it was a dark…dark time. When they first went to war, they were determined to 'cleanse' the planet. But, the horror was too much for many. Our country was soon divided between the people who wanted to continue 'purging' our planet and the people who had enough. Over the course of the last ten years of the war and the few years after it, people's opinion of what happened changed. They were horrified by what had happened."

"So, you're basically saying, you're people have changed since the war and regret everything that happened," Nova said, putting the pieces together. She looked into Pavell's eyes, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth.

"Not buying it," she finally said. "You buying it Martin?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. Corin, you?"

"Nope."

"You must believe me," Pavell pleaded, standing back up. "Our people today are not like our forefathers; we are not the civilization we used to be."

"You're telling me that your entire nation had a complete turnaround in its beliefs in eighty years," Corin scoffed, having a hard time that the ideologies of an entire country could change so quickly. An entire country's ideology would change over time but Corin wondered if eighty years was enough time to remove a country-wide hatred for all things foreign.

"We don't deny what our forefathers did was horrible," Pavell said. "But, we are not the same."

Nova looked at Martin and Corin, trying to figure out what they thought. She needed help deciding. If they were the same people that massacred everyone on their planet then she wanted nothing to do with them. But, if they really had changed, then, she felt that they deserved a chance to make up for whatever happened in their past. Her mind went back and forth between these two thoughts. They needed a power source for the Millennium, but she wasn't going to negotiate with them if they killed those who weren't 'pure'.

"I'll need to discuss this with my team," Nova said darkly. "In private."

-.-

Chen stepped down from the chair, confused by what he just saw.

"I thought there was someone up there," he said, still looking at the ceiling. Kara was looking at him as if he had gone insane from the boredom.

"Why?" she asked. Her question was promptly answered. There was a loud crash as the ceiling tiles behind her gave way. A figure dropped from the ceiling, hitting the ground behind the table with at least four ceiling tiles and a cloud of dust and insulation.

Chen raised his weapon at the sight of the figure, which was still hidden behind the table. Chen couldn't tell if whoever was in the ceiling was dangerous or not but he will keep his weapon raised until he was assured that he and Kara were safe.

"Take it easy," Kara snapped at Chen, not understanding why he was so on edge. She looked over the table and into the cloud, watching as a figure slowly stood up, groaning in pain from the fall.

"He could be dangerous," Steven warned, not liking how relaxed Kara was.

"He could be hurt," she snapped back, turning to glare at him. She turned back just as the cloud of dust and lint from the ceiling began to clear, revealing the fierri who had fallen from the ceiling.

Chen could not help but notice that this one was different. Instead of the brown skin the other fierri had, this one was a shade of tan instead; the other fierri had skin that was the color of potato skin while this one seemed to have the color of the inside of a potato instead. And, his eyes were a lot rounder in comparison to the eyes of the other fierri. But, it wasn't the fierri's unusual appearance that caught Chen's attention but the weapon that the fierri aimed at them.

Realizing what was happening seemed to make everything freeze. Chen would swear that, at that moment, time seemed to stop so he could grasp what was happening. But, he knew it was the adrenaline in his body kicking in as he got ready for a fight.

He wasn't focused on fighting though. Kara stood frozen in front of the figure, shocked by what she saw, her muscles freezing her to the spot. Neither she nor Chen were military but he has been in a lot more fights than she ever had and his reflexes were a thousand times faster.

Chen rushed forwards, leaping off the ground and tackling Kara with his body. He couldn't see what was happening as her brown hair flew up into his face. She gasped in surprise as the floor seemed to vanish beneath her feet. The impact on the cold hard floor rocked her body as her head landed in Chen's hands, which had cupped behind her head to cushion her fall.

It was just in time. At that moment, Chen heard the figure open fire where they had been just a few moments earlier. The alien gun…it definitely a projectile weapon, shooting bullets and not lasers, but it wasn't like any he had seen before. Chen's seen and fired quite a few projectile weapons, both human and alien, from the human MP5 to the Lucian Alliance assault rifle. In every instance, he could hear the weapon firing, hear the individual 'bangs' as each bullet left the barrel. No matter how fast the gun fired, he was able to hear each individual shot. But, this one was different. It fired bullets and not lasers, no doubt about it, but it didn't have the continuous chain of ear-splitting bangs that he was used to hearing. Instead, the gun fired so fast that all the noise seemed to mix together into one long ear-splitting scream that seemed to cut the air like a buzz saw.

Chen wanted to stand up and shoot back but, with a gun firing that fast, whoever was shooting at them was less likely to miss, especially at that close of a range. He felt Kara tighten her hold on him as glass, shards of metal, and sparks rained on his back. Then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped. The fierri had stopped shooting and took off down the hall, his footsteps echoing back into the room.

Chen peeked over the table to make sure the alien was gone.

The alien couldn't have been firing for more than three seconds, but the table looked like it had been on the receiving end of a firing line of miniguns for at least a minute. The whole surface was shredded, the metal twisted and mangled until even the bullet holes were unrecognizable. Kara's bags of medical equipment were completely ripped apart, only held together by a few strands of fiber. Her laptop was just as mangled, the screen shattered and the frame twisted like a pretzel. A cloud of smoke hovered above the table, the friction from the bullets heating the whole area up.

"You ok?" he asked Kara as she opened her hazel eyes.

"Think so," she groaned, her body aching from the fall, still shocked by what just happened. If Chen had reacted one second later, she'd be dead. Her chest heaved up and down uncontrollably, and the fact that Chen was on her made it hard to breath.

"You know, I hate to say 'I told you so', but-" Chen began to grumble in annoyance, remembering their disagreement over how dangerous the mystery man was.

"Then don't," Kara quickly interrupted. "You can get off me now, by the way."

Chen rolled off, his MP5 still in hand, and peeked around the table. Satisfied that they were safe, Chen stood up. His ears were still ringing from the noise and he couldn't help but feel that the gunfire had partially deafened him.

"Chen, we heard screaming," Nova's voice suddenly crackled through the radio as Chen helped Kara to her feet. "What's happening over there?"

"Wasn't screaming," Chen growled back angrily. "It was gunfire, some weird looking fierri."

"Weird looking," Nova repeated. "What's that supposed to mean."

"I mean, like, weird looking," Chen scoffed, not knowing how to put it better. "Like, less baked potato and more sweet potato."

Nova exchanged glances with Martin and Corin when she heard this.

"Chen we need to talk," Nova said.

-.-

Martin stood on a chair and stared at the hole in the ceiling, trying to piece together everything that's happened. He would've stood on the table but the whole table top was shredded by the bullets and Martin was keen on getting metal spikes through his foot.

He liked hunting when he was on Earth and was an expert tracker. While, right now he was not hunting and what he was tracking was not an animal, he was the only chance they had in finding the fierri that fell from the ceiling.

The weapons fire had caused quite a stir. The fact a fierri just tried to shoot two of the humans wasn't helping the talks over whether or not the society had changed. Pavell had the whole lab surrounded and had sent in a dozen men to catch the shooter. The team decided to relocate to the lab and discuss their next move. Even Crux was sent to tag along with Nova and her team.

Corin and Nova were in the corner of the lab telling Chen what they found out about the fierri. Nova and Chen haven't worked together for very long but her prediction of his reaction was spot on.

"Why are we still here?" Chen hissed.

"They say that their society has changed since then," Corin said.

"And you believe this?" Chen had to keep himself from shouting. "If someone discovers that you once did something terrible in your past, that's exactly what you tell them, that 'I've changed' and 'things are different'. Tell me you don't actually believe that crap they've been feeding you."

"Not completely," Nova immediately replied. "If their civilization is the same as it was during the war, I am ordering you to destroy whatever research that Doctor Osborn has on a cure; leave no trace for the fierri."

"Got beaten to the punch on that one," Chen muttered.

"But, if they really have changed," Corin added. "They deserve a chance to prove it." Chen felt his jaw drop in disbelief. He shouldn't be surprised that Corin was willing trust others, but he was. They were talking about a group of people that massacred everyone else on their planet, nearly nine billion people.

"Is mental illness contagious?" Chen coughed.

"Chen," Nova said firmly. "Earth's changed a lot in eighty years. A lot have countries have changed; World War II was about, what, seventy years ago. A lot of the countries from then have changed."

"And a lot of countries also stayed the same," Chen argued.

"STEVE," Corin groaned, beginning to get annoyed by Chen's stubbornness and paranoia. "That's what we're saying. We don't know if they've changed or not, but if they have, they deserve a chance, don't they."

Chen looked from Nova to Corin and back to Nova.

"Fine," he said. "But I'm not letting go of my gun." Chen turned around and walked off to see if he could salvage the now shredded computer.

Corin and Nova walked up under the hole in the ceiling.

"What do you think, Martin?" Nova asked as he examined the pile of dust and tiles.

"I think someone fell out of the ceiling," Martin said as he jumped off the chair.

"We got that bit, Sherlock," Chen grumbled.

"Don't you spit the dummy at me," Martin snapped back as Kara walked up, noticing the arguing. "I'm not exactly a detective."

"Can you at least figure out why he tried to kill Chen and Doctor Osborn," Nova said.

"I don't think he was," Kara said, stepping forwards and looking at the table. "Look at this; the table's about ten feet long."

"So?" Corin asked.

"So, why did he shoot up the whole table?" Kara asked. "Steven and me were right there," she added, gesturing toward a part of the ground. "Why didn't he only aim there? Why'd he take the time to shoot up the entire table?"

Nova and Martin exchanged glances, silently admitting that those were good questions.

"The research," Corin realized. "He destroying Doctor Osborn's research."

The room fell silent as a single possibility entered their heads. It seemed like the only explanation that made sense of everything. A fierri of a different color trying to stop them from finding a cure…

"Major Nova," Prime Minister Pavell called out as he waddled in with a small platoon of bodyguards. "Are your teammates unharmed?"

"We're fine," Nova said reassuringly. "Prime Minister…we may have found something…interesting." Nova hesitated to tell Pavell that the fierri that attacked them may be a survivor of the war. If their civilization had not changed they would be condemning the individual to death. She quietly weighed all the options and outcomes in her mind.

"The fierri who attacked us," she said, finally reaching a decision. "We think he may be a survivor of the war." Pavell froze when Nova said this, stunned by this revelation.

"Crux," Pavell beckoned. The captain of the guards stepped forwards. "We may have a survivor of the New Genesis War. Tell your men I want him alive. See if they can talk him down. Do not shoot unless necessary and if you have to shoot, don't kill." Crux just froze there, stunned by the mere mention of a survivor. So many surprises in one day: first aliens coming through the stargate, then the first females on the planet in over fifty years, now a survivor of the New Genesis War. Pavell didn't even know if he heard the rest of his commands.

"Crux!" Pavell barked, snapping the soldier into reality.

"Yessir," he said, bringing his communicator to his mouth. "This is Crux, all units rotate arms. Disarm shrieker rifles."

"Shrieker rifles," Chen repeated quietly, thinking about how fitting the name was. The gun fired so fast it sounded like a shriek.

"Deploy trazer SMG's," Crux ordered.

"Trazers?" Nova repeated, wanting to make sure they didn't intend to kill.

"Our sidearm," Crux explained, taking out what looked like a black brick from a pouch on his suit.

With a flick of his wrist, the bottom half of the 'brick' swung down, connected to the top half by a hinge, revealing a grip and barrel concealed within the top half of the brick. The bottom half clicked back, forming the stock and revealing the handle and trigger.

"It fires electrically charged fluid droplets which will discharge on impact," Crux explained.

"Electric discharge?" Kara repeated as if she was analyzing the weapon. "It causes neuromuscular incapacitation and sensory overload?" Crux stared at her in confusion.

"Sure," he said, not bothering to ask what she just said.

"We can help," Nova suddenly said.

"Major?" Martin asked, hesitant to help the fierri. He already made of the mistake of being overeager to help. He was not going to do it again.

"Call it a test," Nova whispered. "We can't keep questioning them. We need to reach a decision: do we trust them and try to form an alliance or do we leave right now?"

"Prime Minister?" Crux asked, hesitant to give out weapons to aliens.

"Do it," Pavell ordered. Crux nodded and handed out trazers to Nova and her team.

"Minister, I recommend you return to the capital building," Crux advised.

"I will," Pavell said. As the leader of his people, it was too dangerous for him to stay there. "You stay with the Doctor Osborn. Protect the boy until this is over."

"Boy?" Kara repeated.

"Girl," Chen corrected. "It's a girl."

"Protect the girl until this is over," Pavell quickly said.

"Girl?" Kara repeated. At least they were able to recognize her as female now but the word 'girl' made it seem like she was a young child. "I wouldn't get on about age, Steven; you're a year younger than me."

Chen stiffened when he heard this as Martin held back a stifled laugh.

"Guess that explains why he doesn't talk about how old he is," Martin chuckled.

"Anyways," Nova said, breaking the awkward moment. "Corin, you stay here with Doctor Osborn."

"But, Terra-" Corin protested.

"Not this time, Corin," Nova insisted as the fierri troops in the room walked away to find the survivor. "Martin, Chen, roll out."

-.-

"If we ever make contact with Earth, we have to request some zats or something," Martin muttered as he made his way down the hall with Nova and Chen, weapons at the ready. "They never give any of the expeditions any alien tech. Atlantis, Destiny, now us, we all went in with nothing but the Earth stuff we already had. Give us some zats, a wraith stunner, something."

"Put that on your Christmas list, Martin," Nova said as she glanced at the ceiling, making sure no one was hiding up there again. "Stack up on the door."

The three of them pressed up against the wall as they neared a door on the left side of the hall. They weren't on edge or as cautious as they usually are when searching for someone but they were still going to be cautious when going through the door. Nova and Martin formed up on one side while Chen quickly moved to the other to check the door knob.

"Unlocked," Chen said after jiggling the knob. Martin gave a nod, indicating that he was ready, and Nova gave Martin a squeeze on his shoulder, indicating she was ready as well.

Chen hated clearing rooms. Biggest rule of clearing a room: stick to your role. Every person clears one part of the room and he has to stick to clearing that one spot. Even if there was a bad guy in another part of the room, he had to stick to clearing his spot and trust that his teammates can deal with the bad guy. Do your part and trust that your teammates can do theirs.

They Chen flipped the door open…revealing a janitorial closet. Chen looked up to see if any of the ceiling tiles were moving but everything was still.

"So much for that," Chen scoffed, slamming the door shut. "This whole thing is just a big long egg-hunt."

"Potato hunt," Martin said. "They're potatoes, not eggs."

"Whatever."

"You think he might be in the ceiling again?" Nova asked, eyeing the ceiling tiles.

"I don't even understand why he was in the ceiling to begin with," Chen said.

"To blow up Doctor Osborn's research," Martin said with a shrug.

"That's the bit I don't get. In order for him to know about the research in the first place, he has to be in the city and close to the warehouse that has the stargate. That's the only way he can hear about aliens coming to help them find a cure. Why is he here in the first place?"

"He could be the mass murderer everyone's talking about," Nova suggested. Martin and Chen looked at her in confusion; neither of them have heard anything about it. "I heard Crux talking about on the way up here. There's been a string of murders around here lately."

"I saw a paper on that," Chen said, remembering the newspaper he read earlier. "Sixty five murders in the past two months, same method every time: slit throat."

"You think they're the same bloke?" Martin asked, thinking it was a little farfetched that the same person they're chasing just to happened to be the mass murder the newspaper was talking about. "This guy used a gun. The murderer's been using a knife."

"Well, it's kinda hard to destroy medical research and equipment with a knife," Nova pointed out. "Some of his victims were city guards. He probably got his weapon from them and used it to destroy Osborn's research."

Chen paused as he began to piece everything together.

"That would make sense," he said to himself. "The survivors of the war passed the stories of the massacre to their children and grandchildren and one of them decides to come here to take his revenge by killing as many people as he could. He heard about the aliens who came through the stargate to help them find a cure and he had to see for himself. He fell out of the ceiling a little too early so he took the opportunity to destroy everything and ran."

"That's kinda pointless," Martin coughed. "These blokes didn't have anything to do with the war. They regret the war."

"He doesn't care," Chen explained. "One thing about a man who seeks short term revenge is that he only does what feels just; it doesn't matter if he doesn't achieve anything, as long as he thinks it's just."

"Wait a minute," Nova said as something crossed her mind. "You go somewhere to complete a mission but things don't go as plan; you get caught or-"

"Fall out of the ceiling," Chen added in.

"What would you do?"

Chen raised an eyebrow, not sure how to answer that.

"You go back and make sure you got it done," Martin answered, understanding what Nova was getting at. "You forced to do a rush job so you go back and make sure you got the job done right."

"Corin and Kara," Chen breathed. The two of them were still in the lab. If the fugitive they were looking for was going to come back to finish the job, he would go back to the lab.

"Things just got a lot more interesting," Martin said as he peeked around the corner. At the end of the hall around the corner, three bodies were heaped on the ground in a small pool of blood.

"Whoever this guy is, he's good," Chen said as they rushed up to the three bodies, cautiously scanning the halls.

"Martin, what do you think?" Nova asked as Martin walked around the scene, stepping back and putting his hands in the air and in front of him as if he was reenacting what happened.

"Two of them had their throats slit," Martin said as he analyzed the bodies. "The killer snuck up behind them and slit their throats. The cut looks deep; probably severed the wind pipe, which means no noise." Martin walked up to the third body. "Third guy turned around, maybe he heard something, maybe he just looked behind him. Either way, the killer realized he got caught and just thrust his knife into his throat. Didn't even get a chance to fire a shot. Three soldiers dispatched in three seconds."

"Looks like the stakes just got higher," Chen said grimly. There was no doubt about it now; the man they were after was the murderer they were talking about.

"Lieutenant Martin, Doctor Chen," Nova said. "We're heading back to the lab."

-.-

"You brought a book," Kara commented when she saw Corin, leaning back against a stack of crates, reading a small booklet that was the size of a cell phone.

"Just some studying," Corin said. He had begun to get bored his little book was his only source of entertainment. Crux was patrolling around the room to keep himself busy and Osborn had nothing to do at all.

"Gotta learn five languages if I want to keep up with all the texts on the Millennium," Corin explained as he flipped the page.

"Five?" she asked, sitting on a crate across from him. "Four races, four languages. Where's number five coming from?"

"It's the universal language. Before the races knew the others' languages they used a universal language using atoms as letters and numbers. They took a universal constant and made a language out of it; cool, huh?" He looked over but found that Kara was only staring at him with a confused look.

"Sorry; doctor, not linguist," she said. "Aren't you the alien? Corin Nevec?"

"Yeah, just call me Corin."

"Kara, Kara Osborn. Civilian. Used to work at Edwards Air Force."

"Just a teacher," Corin said.

"Teacher working on a military team," Kara pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm mostly for meeting the alien races and negotiations," he said, closing his book and putting it in a pouch in his vest. "Talking about negotiations." Corin stood up and looked at Crux. "Hey Crux, once this is over, maybe we can get back to negotiating for that power source."

Crux stopped marching to think about what Corin said.

"It is not my decision," he said. "But, perhaps, Prime Minister Pavell will be convinced now."

"What type of power source are we talking about?" Corin asked curiously. He probably wasn't going to understand but he might as well try to get some idea.

"We might be able to provide you with a quariam generator," Crux said, walking up to Kara and Corin. Kara looked at Corin in confusion.

"Excuse me…but…what's quariam?" she asked.

"It's an element native to this galaxy," Corin explained. "A lot of stuff is built with it; it's a really powerful energy source."

"We don't have any on this planet," Crux added. "However, before we shut down our stargate program, we were able to procure a fair amount to make power sources with; we even have one under our city, powering it. Does this mean you trust us now?"

Corin froze at this question and thought about the answer.

"Not completely," he said. "But, if you are different than your ancestors…you deserve a chance." Crux smiled at this answer.

"Good," he said. Crux turned around to go back to his marching and froze in his tracks. He stared for a moment, stunned that he didn't hear or notice anything. It was the fierri they had been looking for; he had managed to sneak behind Crux, knife ready in his right hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Au: Sorry about the delay. Somethings were going on in my personal life and this may or may not have affected this overall story. Still, I hope you enjoy it. Please review and tell me what you think.**

Kara and Corin bolted to their feet, surprised by how the fierri had seemed to appear out of nowhere. Crux raised his weapon but the other fierri was faster, knocking it out of the way before grabbing Crux's arm and twisting him around.

"Wait," Kara cried out as the blade of the knife was pressed against Crux's throat. "Please don't hurt him. Please!"

Her words must have meant something. As soon as he heard her cry out like that, the fierri froze. Crux saw his opportunity and took it, ramming his elbow into his assailant. The alien soldier was finally able to wriggle free of his captor but by the time he had turned around he found himself staring down the barrel of his own trazer that his opponent had picked up.

There was a loud crack as the unnamed fierri pulled the trigger, the charged droplet shooting out of the barrel and hitting Crux in the chest, a fountain of sparks spewing from where the droplet hit. Crux gave a loud painful groan as he fell to his knees. He could feel the electricity surge through his body, every muscle firing off at once, the energy tingling across his skin. The other fierri pulled the trigger one more time, another cloud of sparks shooting out of the place it hit. Crux fell over to the ground, leaving only Corin and Kara to face the fierri.

Corin yanked out his Berretta and aimed it at the fierri. He hated this, he hated the idea of killing a person he didn't know. But, he knew he had no choice. He had to protect Doctor Osborn. He was given some basic firearm training before he joined the alien team. Now, he had to put it to use. Aim and pull the trigger; it was, that easy…right? Still, he was a teacher before the joined the team. He's never killed anyone in his life. Now, he was going to do it for the first time.

His shaking hand lined up the fierri and pulled the trigger…at least he tried. It was stuck. The trigger was locked in place, refusing to move. Corin looked at his gun in disbelief, cursing that it would stop working when he needed it most. He wanted to try and fix it but he was afraid that it would go off while he was doing so.

Kara saw that Corin was having trouble with his gun and realized that she would have to take action. She desperately looked around for a weapon she couldn't find anything…except for her scalpel. She grabbed the surgical tool and threw it at the alien. It seemed like a great idea, throw a knife into your opponent as a last means of self-defense, but there was one problem: she didn't know how. Nova, Martin, even Chen have practiced and knew how to throw knives into targets with pinpoint accuracy, the blade embedding itself deep into their target. Kara, however, has never practiced throwing a knife in her life and watched as the scalpel bounced harmlessly off the fierri's chest and clanked loudly to the floor.

Corin gawked at Kara in disbelief. If the fierri didn't have a problem with them before he did now.

"Alright!" Corin said loudly, holding his gun into the air. "We give in." He slowly set his weapon to the ground. Surrendering seemed like a terrible idea but it was the only thing he could think of that would result in them living. "We don't mean you any harm." Corin looked desperately at the fierri, knowing if the guy could take out Crux, he could kill them with ease.

"You attacked me," the fierri said in a monotone hiss, lowering the trazer and fingering the belt of knives he wore.

"Well, you did try to kill this man here," Corin said cautiously. "You can't blame us for being afraid that you'll do the same to us." Corin studied the fierri closely. It was obvious from the different shade of his skin that was from a different part of the planet. Staring at the alien, Corin could not help but wonder if the fierri were a descendent of one of the Four Great Races; maybe the furlings. Maybe they were descended from one of the other races but evolved differently to look the way they do now.

"He brought it upon himself," the fierri croaked in the same monotone hiss, glaring at an unconscious Crux.

"Are you the one then?" Corin asked. "The newspapers are talking about a man who's killed over sixty people in the past few months. Are you him?" Soren paused before answering.

"I only kill those who deserve death; and these people deserve to die. You are innocent," he said, looking back at Corin. "I suggest you and your…people…leave this planet." The fierri looked at the table full of damaged medical equipment before turning to leave.

"Wait," Corin suddenly called out. He had to stall; he didn't know when his friends would return but he had to give them the chance of getting back and stopping the fierri right here. Maybe he could even talk the alien into surrendering.

"What do you mean 'brought it upon himself'?" Corin asked. In reality, he knew what the fierri meant but he had to find a way to buy time. The fierri stopped when he heard the question, as if he was searching for the right answer.

Seeing the situation begin to settle, Kara rushed over to Crux. She didn't know anything about fierri biology but it couldn't be much different from their own. She had to make sure he was ok.

Corin stared at the nameless fierri. The conversation was going nowhere. If the fierri grew bored then there was nothing to stop him from leaving. Corin had to progress the talking point. As a language teacher in his old life, he knew the art of talking well and knew that in order to keep the person occupied with the conversation he had to be actively participating in that conversation, his statements responding to the other person's statements. This particular person wasn't interested in explaining so there was no response. Corin had to say something for the fierri to respond to.

"Do you mean the New Genesis War?" Corin asked, knowing that if this person was who they think he was, the mere mention of that war would elicit a reaction. He was right. The fierri whipped around, his eyes suddenly red with rage. Nevec felt a chill of fear go down his spine as he wondered whether or not he asked the right question.

"You know about it?!" the fierri hiss venomously, dropping the trazer and reaching behind him and pulling out the rifle he had used earlier.

Kara watched wide eyed as the gun was raised to Corin's head. If this alien decided to kill them there was no way to stop him.

"Yes," Corin said firmly, trying to muster as much courage as he could. "The war which this country in an attempt to wipe out all 'impure' fierri from the planet, a war of mass genocide."

"You help the people who killed billions for no reason other than they were different?" the fierri snapped, his hands beginning to shake uncontrollably from the rage.

"These aren't the same people," Corin said calmly. "The murderers who did this died long ago."

"And you think that their descendants are any different?"

"If they aren't then, personally, I don't care what happens to them," Corin said honestly. "But if they are? Judge them for who they are now, not who their ancestors were. The people who committed the crime are gone."

"YES!" the fierri screeched, his pitch shooting up so high that it was almost a surprise the windows didn't shatter. "Because I cannot punish them for the hell they wrought, I will punish their descendants instead."

"They have been punished," Corin argued, still watching his tone. If he pissed off the man with the gun he might not get the chance to say another word. "Do you know what is happening to these people?"

"They are getting what they deserve. Because of them, I am the last of my kind. I grew up in the ruins of a once beautiful city, hunting for scraps and animals in the ruins of houses that used to hold families…families that are now dead. There were only a handful of survivors from that war, all trying desperately to survive. One by one we died off until I was the only one left. My brother and I were the last two of our kind. Before he died he told me 'Soren, you decide the fate of our people'. And I have decided. If my people are to die then these people will too."

'Soren', Corin repeated to himself. Now they have a name, but he couldn't tell if it meant he was making progress in convincing Soren into surrendering.

"You want justice on the people who did this, not these people!" Corin said, almost yelling it.

"And if I cannot have justice on those who did this, I will have it on their descendants instead."

"This isn't justice! This is blind revenge! This is the same prejudice they had when they killed your people a hundred years ago!"

Soren's eyes widened in shock as those words practically impaled him. The pink fleshy alien was actually comparing him with the race that killed his people. And Corin realized that he might have just pushed too hard.

Soren gripped his gun tightly as he pressed the barrel against Corin's head. Kara watched helplessly in the corner, knowing that she couldn't possibly help in any way.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

A woman's voice had smashed the conversation's tension like a sledgehammer. Nova and her team had returned.

They burst through the door, their weapons raised and ready for action. But there was a problem; Corin was standing way to close to the fierri. He was a few feet away but the distance was still too small. One stray bullet is all it can take. The only other problem: Corin didn't know this. As far as he was concerned, the cavalry had just arrived.

"Move you moron!" Chen shouted, refusing to take the shot until Corin was completely out of the line of fire. Too late. Soren immediately turned his gun on the three of them, the room filling with a familiar ear-splitting scream as a hail storm of bullets flew their direction.

The three of them dove for cover behind the door frame as the bullets flew down the hall.

Soren and Kara both ducked and covered their heads at the sudden screaming sound of alien gunfire. Chen pressed himself against the wall as shredded metal flew off the door frame, a shower of sparks shooting from the frame as if was part of a light show.

Corin watched helplessly as Soren continued raining fire on his friends. His gun may have been a projectile weapon instead of an energy one but it was far more advanced than what they had and it had the rest of the team pinned down behind the doorway.

He kept telling himself to be brave, to muster up the courage to do something. But do what? What would Terra or Charles do? They would probably try to disarm Soren and give the rest of the team a chance to fight back. But Corin knew that if he tried to do that he would likely only succeed in getting himself shot. He couldn't fight Soren. He had to find a way to talk him down.

"You said you only wanted justice!" Corin yelled over the screaming sound of the rifle, looking up to stare are Soren. Soren did not react. Corin couldn't tell whether this was because the alien couldn't hear what he was saying or just simply didn't care.

"These people have absolutely nothing to do with what happened! Why are you trying to kill them then? How is that justice?!"

It took about a second but Soren suddenly stopped. He removed his finger from the trigged, an anvil of silence crushing the thunderous sound of gunfire. Even after the shooting, Corin still couldn't get the ringing out of his ears. He looked at Soren, who still aimed his rifle at the door, a steady plume of steam rising from the barrel. Soren gritted his teeth in frustration as he stared down the hall. The pink alien was right. There was no justice in killing these people. Still, they were in the way of his revenge. He had to do something.

Without another word, Soren turned and charged at the window. Corin could only stare in disbelief as the fierri threw himself at the window, the glass shattering on impact. Corin could only gawk in disbelief. He was hoping to make the fierri surrender, not commit suicide. He rushed to the window. He didn't know what he expected to see outside but what he saw was definitely something he did not expect.

Soren had somehow survived the fall. It seemed impossible; he had jumped from the third story of the building. Yet, somehow, he was up and running away. Bystanders rushed out of the way, steering clear of the man who just jumped out of a window with a gun in his hand.

"Corin," Nova said, grabbing him by the shoulder and giving him a firm shake. Corin snapped back to reality, giving her a half-dazed look. "You ok?" she asked.

"Well we know his shoulder is," Chen snorted as he and Martin walked into the room.

"I'm fine," Corin said, ignoring Steven's comment.

"I'm fine too, by the way," Kara called out when it became apparent no one was going to ask her.

"And Crux?" Nova asked. Crux was their only liaison between them and the fierri. If they still hoped to establish an alliance, they needed Crux. More than that, there was no way the other fierri in the building didn't hear all the ruckus and won't be rushing to see what's happening. Telling them would be much easier with Crux.

"He's fine," Kara said. "Just unconscious. He got hit by that stun gun." Hearing mention of trazer, Nova instinctively looked at the one she had in her hands. At least she knows it works.

Nevec walked over to where he dropped his pistol and picked the gun up.

"You're gun doesn't work by the way," he said, holding up to Nova. She looked at the firearm for a brief second, almost instantly recognizing the problem.

"Safety," she said. Corin gave her a confused look. "The safety's still on," she explained, reaching over and clicking the safety off. For Corin, it felt like an anvil just smashed him on the head, branding the word 'idiot' into his skull. He was always terrible with firearms but this just topped it.

"At least it didn't go off when he tried pulling it out," Martin said cheerfully, trying to sound positive.

"That's probably because the safety was one when he pulled it out," Chen bitterly added. Martin gave Steven an annoyed look for crushing his attempt to look on the bright side.

-.-

The city catacombs: a maze of maintenance tunnels that run under the city. The fierri civilization had grown so advanced that even this place was mostly self-sustaining. Occasionally a worker would stop by to make sure all the machines are working properly but the tunnels usually stayed empty, the perfect place for Soren to hide. The entrance to the tunnels usually were locked but nobody guarded them so picking it and getting in was easy. Soren soon found himself aimlessly wandering the tunnels, no destination in mind. He just wanted to walk.

_"These people have absolutely nothing to do with what happened! Why are you trying to kill them then? How is that justice?!"_

He finally stopped. He leaned back against the wall as he thought about what the alien who came through the stone ring said. He remembered when he first decided to travel to this country to avenge his people. After so many years scavenging through ruined buildings, constructing equipment out of demolished trash, and hunting for food on radioactive landscapes, he was finally going to have revenge on those who put him there.

He remembered his first kills. He had no feeling about it whatsoever. He wasn't taking out an individual; he was taking out a disease one germ at a time. Never once did he think about what he was doing. He gave what they deserve.

Then there was today. He nearly killed three innocents. His other kills were justified; they were part of an evil society, an evil race. And suddenly, he nearly killed people who were innocent.

_ "This isn't justice! This is blind revenge! This is the same prejudice they had when they killed your people a hundred years ago!" _

Was the alien from the stone ring right?

_"Soren, you decide the fate of our people."_

Soren clenched his fist. No. Justice will be done. He was originally going to just pick them off one by one with help from the ailment that now plagues them. But now, he knew a better way.

-.-

Whenever you send a team to another planet there is no telling what might happen to them. The only way to make sure everything is ok is to perform occasional but regular check-ins. This way, Stargate Command, Atlantis, or, in this case, Millennium, can make sure their teams are safe.

Nova knew she had to tell Mercer everything they learned about the fierri. They left in search of resources and alien allies. Mercer was reluctant to devote resources to help an alien race because of the increasingly dire situation the expedition was in. Now she had to tell him that the race they were going to try to help once committed mass genocide. More than that, there was a vengeful survivor of that mass genocide that might try to kill them. She may have been in charge of her team but General Mercer was in charge of the entire expedition. It would ultimately be up to him to decide what to do next.

Crux had woken up minutes later and the fierri had no problem with them calling home. Once everything had settled down, the team went back to the warehouse where the stargate was stored.

Nova still wasn't used to the polished metal look of the stargate and DHD, half admiring its new appearance as she dialed Millennium. The milky white oval chevrons instead of the orange triangular ones was also a new sight. As she dialed the gate, she watched as each chevron lit up, casting a milky white light into the room. Once all seven symbols were punched in, she pressed the center crystal, which was the same color as the chevrons on the gate. She watched silently as the stargate activated, the familiar 'kawoosh' surging out of the event horizon before flying back in and settling into the stable wormhole. She walked over to the MALP that stood beside the DHD, kneeling down so her face was in front of the camera.

"Millennium, this Major Nova," she said through her radio.

"We read you major," Mercer's voice came back through the radio. She knew that General Mercer and their technician, Donavan, could see her through the MALP's camera. "How goes the negotiations with the fierri?" Nova paused when she heard this, trying to figure out how to put it.

"There's been a development," she said as she began to explain what has happened so far.

Charles, Corin, and Steven watched as Nova began telling the General everything that's been happening.

"Sontarans!" Martin suddenly said, almost triumphantly. Corin and Steven both looked at him, surprised by his sudden outburst and confused by what he meant.

"What?" they both asked in unison.

"It's been buggin me for a while now," Martin blabbered. "These blokes gave me this weird déjà vu feeling. Now I know what it is. The potato midgets: these guys are like the Sontarans from Doctor Who!"

"What?" they asked again. Martin stared at the two of them in disbelief.

"Ok, he's an alien so I get why he doesn't know," Martin said, referring to Corin Nevec. "What's your excuse?" he asked Chen, who was only giving him an expressionless stare.

"I don't need one," Chen said blankly. "What's Doctor Who?"

"It's a British TV show!" Martin said in exasperation throwing his hands out.

"You're Australian," Chen pointed out in the same blank voice.

"Ok, now that's just racist. Hey, maybe I can show you two once we get back to Millennium!"

"Of course, I'm sure Millennium gets BBC," Chen huffed sarcastically.

"I brought the DVD's," Martin said casually. Chen gawked at Martin in disbelief. "They said we were allowed to bring personal items. I brought some DVD's and videogames. What'd you say?" Corin paused to think about it for a second.

"C'mon, mate," Martin insisted. "You can translate those Nox texts later." Corin took another moment to think. He's been doing nothing but studying up on the Ancient, Asgard, Nox, and Furling languages since he joined the team. A break would be nice.

"Alright," Corin finally said cheerfully.

"What 'bout you, Chen?" Martin asked. He had to get the cranky scientist to relax.

"No," came an almost immediate response.

"You still thinking about what happened back at the lab?" Corin asked, noticing that every time Chen answered, he looked like he was in the middle of thinking about something and was interrupted. Corin had spent enough time on the team to understand kind of understand Chen's cynical nature. He automatically distrusts everyone he meets and assumes every situation is just a precursor for an even bigger plot.

"Well, am I the only one who thinks that what just happened doesn't make sense?" Chen snapped. "He comes, shoots up the place, and leaves. Why?"

"Hey, I'm just happy he didn't shoot me," Corin said defensively.

"Exactly!" Chen said, as if Corin had said something significant. "He went in, didn't kill anyone, didn't destroy anything, and just left. We thought he went back to make sure Kara's research for a cure was destroyed, but, according to you, he didn't even seem to care about the research anymore."

"C'mon, Chen," Martin groaned with a slight hint of annoyance.

-.-

Nova wasn't paying much attention to what her team was doing. She knew they were competent enough to not do anything stupid.

When they first arrived to this galaxy, Millennium was on the brink of losing all power and they were desperate for more power sources aside from their naquadah generators. She was given a team to lead in a desperate attempt to find a power source or a place to relocate to. While she did find the power source they were looking for, her original team was, in her opinion, composed of a bunch of meatheads. She trusted this team not to do anything stupid. But, even with a competent team, being the leader of a team that goes to alien planets was still not easy and doing the occasional check-ins could be annoying. She was glad aging General Mercer was more lenient than other SGC leaders.

He was silent as he listened to Nova, only asking questions when he wanted to know something. When she was finally done explaining all he said was: "I see."

"Orders?" she asked, not wanting to make the call to decide the fate of an entire race or accidentally save a race of murderers claiming to be innocent.

"You have interacted with the fierri, Major," Mercer said. "You must make the decide what to do with them."

"Yes, sir," Nova said, trying to hide her disappointment. "What about the murderer on the loose? Soren?" Mercer paused as he thought about this.

"Your orders are to find alien allies and attempt to acquire alien technology…a power source," Mercer finally said. "If you feel that the potential rewards are not worth the risk then gate home. However, Major, my patience is growing short. Do whatever you feel necessary to establish an alliance or get a power source. But, I will not have your team remain on that planet for an extended stay. You have until the end of the Millennium's day cycle. After that, you are to return to the Millennium."

"Yes, sir," Nova responded. There was a loud whoosh as the shimmering wormhole vanished and the warehouse darkened again. Guess she had to handle this on her own. She adjusted the straps on the packs she wore before turning around and walking back to her team.

"Gentlemen," she said as she walked up to her team. Everyone instinctively looked up to her, listening to what she had to say. "General Mercer says we have until the end of the day before we have to head back. So we're staying here to see if we can help the fierri."

"Terra," Chen protested, still not trusting the aliens. They had not done anything that would make him stop and consider trusting them and he was eager to leave them to their fate.

"This isn't a democracy, Chen," Nova said firmly. She was the military leader, she made the decisions, her team follows them.

"You're sucking up to them."

"We're trying to help them. If we help them they might be more inclined to give us some of their technology. And, what are you all suspicious about?"

Corin and Martin looked at her, surprised that she was aware of Chen's concerns.

"You have that look on your face again," she said, analyzing Steven's expression. Chen grumbled, hating that his thoughts could be read because of the expression on his face.

"It's Soren," Chen said. "His actions back at the lab don't make sense. We figured that he would go back to make sure he was successful in destroying our medical research."

"And he came back," Martin pointed out.

"And did nothing," Chen argued. "He shot up the place but he was ready to just leave. It's as if he learned something and…" Chen's voice trailed off as a dark thought entered his head.

"Corin, what were you guys doing before he showed up?" Chen asked quickly, praying he was wrong.

"Just, talking about relations between them and us," Corin said with a shrug.

"That's all?" Chen asked, getting pushier than normal.

"We were talking about trading," Corin said innocently.

"Trading? Trading what?"

"Well, we were sent here to get a power source," Corin explained defensively. "They offered a quarium generator."

"Umm…excuse me," Martin cut in, comically raising his hand as if he was waiting to be called on in class. "What's quarium?"

"It's a mineral that makes up the stargate," Corin explained. "It's also a really good power source. Before the Ror'char made ZPG's, they used quarium. The fierri said they were able to get enough of it to make generators before they stargate program shut down." If Martin wasn't confused before, he definitely was now.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Martin quickly said. "Back up. I thought the stargates were made of naquadah." For the SGC personnel, it was common knowledge: the stargate and a majority of Ancient technology was made of naquadah.

"It could be what they call naquadah," Nova pointed out. It made sense to her: different galaxy may have a different name for the same mineral.

"It's probably a different mineral with similar properties," Chen corrected, looking even graver than before. He noticed that the whole team was now looking at him to explain what he said. "The gates in the Milky Way are made of naquadah," he began to explain. "But, there aren't any traces of naquadah in Pegasus."

"Might explain why Pegasus locals never use or trade naquadah," Nova said mindlessly, remembering her tour of duty of Pegasus. In the Milky Way, even the primitive civilization made use of the mineral while the locals in Pegasus seem to be either oblivious or indifferent to it.

"And the Milky Way doesn't have enough naquadah for two galaxies," Chen continued. "We suspect the Ancients used local resources that exhibit similar properties to build their technology. For the Milky Way, they used naquadah. In Pegasus and NGC, they used a local element or mineral with similar properties. Stargates doesn't have to specifically be out of naquadah. A stargate was once built inside the home of an SGC personnel. It doesn't have to be naquadah as long as it's similar to it." He didn't even pause as he quickly changed the subject to what he was trying to point out. "But, that's not the point! You guys didn't happen to discuss or explain what quarium is…or where the fierri keep their quarium generator, did you?"

Corin paused for a moment, going back through his memory. The mention of the location of the quarium generator seemed insignificant. The memory of a gun being pointed at him was a lot stronger. Did they talk about where the generator was? He replayed the scene in his head the best he could.

"Yeah," Corin finally said. "I explained what quarium was to Doctor Osborn, and Crux said it was powering the city in the maintenance tunnels under the city. Well, they called it the catacombs but I don't think that part's important."

Chen gawked at Corin for a moment when he heard that they did mention the location of the generator. He slapped his face with his hand as he began muttering every curse he could think of in Mandarin.

"Ok, you're pissed off, we get it," Martin called out. "What is it?" Chen removed his hand from his face and gave Martin a tired glare.

"Chen?" Nova asked patiently.

"Quarium might be another word for naquadah or it could be a different thing that's like naquadah," Chen started off. "Either way, what happens when you overload a generator full of it?" No one needed to even answer they question. He could only scarcely imagine the, quite literally, apocalyptic explosion.

"Now," Chen continued. "You have a guy who wants to kill all the fierri in this country, who happen to also now be gathered in one spot on this planet." It didn't take long for the team to put together what Chen was saying.

"He's going to try to kill all of them by overloading the generator," Corin muttered in horror. After all the genocide that this planet had witnessed, there was still going to be one last act of genocide and revenge.

"Can he even do that?" Martin asked, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or the others that this might not happen. "I mean, like, that's like asking me to try to overload a nuclear power plant. I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Well, an ashrak was able to figure out how to overload the beta site's naquadah generator," Nova said.

"It also depends on how the fierri made their generators," Chen added. "Our naquadah generators are based on the Orbanian's design and they had a chance to perfect their model to prevent overloads. The generator actively fights against overloading. That's why it takes about 30 second to overload one. I don't know the feirri's design but overloading it could be as easy as pushing the right button. Not to mention, if the fierri came up with their own design than it wouldn't be hard for another fierri to break something."

"Either way, we can't take the chance," Nova said. "Contact Crux and Pavell. Tell them what we know." She, Martin, and Chen cocked their weapons, getting ready for action.

"Gentlemen, roll out!"

-.-

Soren moved swiftly down the hall. He's never heard of anything called 'quarium' before. It must be some sort of alien element of mineral. A few weeks back, the idea of that was laughable to him. But now, he has seen and interacted with aliens that came through a stone ring. The people in this country must have found this 'quarium' through the stone ring too.

_'An element native to this galaxy…a really powerful energy source.'_

Before he attacked, Soren heard this statement. He didn't really know what quarium was but an element or mineral that can be used as a power source strong enough to power an entire city would also be volatile…extremely volatile…especially if it was an element or mineral. He kept the screamer rifle slung over his shoulder and prepared a pair of daggers as he rushed down the hall. The rifle would make too much noise and would attract unwanted attention. He had to be silent with this. He wasn't going to attract an army of security guards and police with gunfire unless he had to.

_'Judge them for who they are now, not who their ancestors were'_

Soren violently shook the thought off his mind. He was not going to let some chatty alien deny him his revenge. He gave them the chance to leave. If they were still here when everything went down, it would be their problem.

-.-

Nova and her team rushed down the street with Crux and a small squad of soldiers.

"The generator has an around-the-clock security detail," Crux explained as they rushed for the nearest entrance to the tunnels. "If they can buy us enough time, we can catch him in a cross fire. Once we're in the tunnels, we split up into four teams. The aliens will go down two of the halls, we'll go down the other two. Make sure we don't miss anything!" They had already taken a good look at the schematics for the tunnels so they at least knew their way around. They had to reach the quarium generator and stop Soren.

Civilians quickly cleared out of the way as the band of armed men, and one armed woman, rushed down the street. They could see the entrance of the tunnels up ahead: a metal nested in the frame of a brick building.

"Alrighty," Nova said as they all quickly surrounded the door. She looked at Corin and said: "I want you to stay here."

Corin froze at this comment.

"Wait, why?" he protested.

"We aren't negotiating anything this time, Corin," Nova explained. Corin grimy understood what she meant. They weren't carrying trazers anymore. They had gone back to using their standard weapons. He knew the order: make Soren surrender; he if doesn't, shoot; if you shoot, shoot to kill.

"There might be negotiating," Corin argued, determined to stay with the team.

"We're here to stop this guy, Corin," Chen said. "We might have to put this guy down to do that."

"We're here to save fierri lives!" Corin snapped. "And I might be able to do that if you give me the chance."

Nova paused for a moment, considering the option. What she never told anyone was why she wanted Corin on her team. She picked Chen not just because of the balance between his mastery of alien technology and his combat and field experience but because of his cynical nature. He would see the world in a way she didn't and will see things that she might not consider. She picked Martin because of his creative nature, coming up with new ideas to situations that others would not have thought of. What she never told anyone was that she picked Corin because of his desire for peaceful solutions. When things get tough, she knew Corin would be the one trying to find a peaceful alternative.

"Ok," she said. Corin wasn't a soldier or a fighter but he might be able to find a peaceful solution to all this. "But," she quickly added. "Stay with Martin." Corin nodded in agreement, shakily taking out his pistol.

Crux and his men opened the door and they all rushed in. Right at the entrance, the tunnels branched in four different directions. Only two would lead to the quarium generator. Every systems, from power to sewage to even their automated mail delivery was done here in this maze of tunnels. A person could take any tunnel and still reach where they were going.

The tunnels were dim except for the egg-like light attached to the wall, creating a gentle glow that was enough to light the tunnel. The walls and floor felt like a smooth concrete and it was remarkably clean. Corin could hear the hum of machinery in the walls, working to provide the fierri with their everyday needs.

"FAN OUT!" Crux ordered his men as they quickly broke off into two teams and raced down two of the halls. Corin knew he only had a moment to examine the different hallways. He remembered the schematics, the image standing in his mind like a photograph. He had to take the shortest route. If Crux and his soldiers or Nova got to Soren first, a firefight was almost guaranteed to break out. He had to get to Soren if he had any hopes of talking him down.

"Charles and I will go this way!" Corin said, rushing down one of the other hallways. Martin opened his mouth to protest but immediately took off behind Corin.

"Corin!" Martin shouted, trying to keep up. Corin wasn't listening. This was the shortest route to the generator. The only reason Crux and his men didn't take this route was because they had to cover every hall. He had to get to Soren first. He was just glad that the fierri soldiers just happened to not pick this hallway.

Suddenly, Corin felt a stiff hand on his shoulder grab him and push him against the wall.

"What are you bloody doing?" Martin hissed in annoyance.

"I need to get to Soren first," Corin panted, already out of breath from all the running. His adrenaline was streaming though his blood so fast that he didn't even feel the burning in his legs.

"We're going to get to the guy," Martin said. "Just calm down, mate!"

"No, you don't get it!" Corin snapped. "Soren wants his revenge…bad. If Crux or Nova show up, there's going to be a lot of shooting. He's not going to let anything stop him. I need to talk to him. I might be able to convince him to stop!" Martin paused, thinking about what Corin said.

"You're sure you can stop him?" he asked.

"If I can reach him first," Nevec said. "This is the shortest hallway." Martin stared at Corin, not sure if he should go with this plan.

"I can stop him, Charles," Corin insisted. Martin just stared, not sure what to say or do or even think.

"Alright," he finally said, letting Corin go.

"We have to get there fast if we want to reach him before the soldiers do," Corin said quickly as he and Martin took off down the hall.

-.-

Crux had counted on the fierri guards near the generator to be able to at least slow Soren down. If they had, the plant to pincer Soren between the two forces might have worked. But Soren's learned quite a few tricks living on his own in a barren wasteland and the guards were made short work of. Living on your own in the wild, you don't have anyone to teach you how to do things. If you didn't figure it out quick, you die. He may not have had anyone to teach him how to fight, but his time in the wild had sharpened his speed, strength, agility, and reflexes a thousand times over and the fierri guards were no match for that, even with their guns out. Their broken bodies lay on the floor around the generators. It was like a scene out of a slasher movie. Soren was brutally efficient in his work. The first guard was unprepared for how fast Soren could rush at him and was easily dispatched. Two other guards were able to get aim their weapons but a quick slash to the throat made short work of them. And Soren had to cut off the finger of the forth guard to prevent him from pulling the trigger on his weapon.

All four guards were easily put down and not even a single bullet was fired. Their mangle bodies now surrounded the device in the center, a massive cylindrical device. The center had a band of glass that flickered with light as energy passed through it. Soren carefully analyzed the device.

It may be using an alien mineral for power but the design was not alien at all. Surviving among the ruined cities, he often had to craft equipment from the destroyed remains of the machines left behind. He had the technical knowledge and recognized the individual parts and pieces.

He gently pressed a panel on the side of the generator. The panel slid open, revealing a mass of glowing wires inside. The wires were feeding all the power being generated into the city. It wouldn't be hard for him to create a feedback and, as a result, an overload.

"Don't do it, Soren!" a voice called out. Soren gritted his teeth in frustration. He knew that voice.

Corin rushed into the room with Martin following close behind, his gun raised.

"You're not stopping me," the fierri growled, analyzing the wires. "I am the last of my kind. I have nothing left! I have waited my whole life for this moment. With their deaths, I will finally find peace."

"You do have something!" Corin argued desperately. The fate of the entire fierri civilization would be decided in the next few moments. "The chance to start a new life. The blood of your people are not on their hands. You do determine the fate of your people! And if you do this, the final act of your people is genocide! Just like what their ancestors did! NO DIFFERENT!"

Soren froze when he heard this, anger bubbling through his veins.

"Can you do that?" Corin challenged. "Can you do the same thing that has put you in the position you're in now? Look me in the eye and tell me you can do that!"

"I can do it!" Soren roared, not turning to look at Corin. "These people deserve to die."

"Then why didn't you kill him?" Corin asked. "Back at the lab, you were going to kill Crux. Kara begged you to stop and you listened. If he deserved to die, why'd you spare him?"

Soren did not even try to answer that question. There was no answer, no justification for what he did.

Corin knew he was out of time; he could hear the footsteps coming down the hall.

"Charles, stop the soldiers," Corin pleaded.

"You sure about this?" Charles asked nervously.

"I can do this," Nevec insisted, beads of sweat beginning to break from his face. "I need a little more time."

"You're out of time!" Chen's voice suddenly said as Steven and Nova emerged from the hall. Footsteps echoed the room as Crux quickly led his squad of soldiers into the chamber.

Chen immediately raised his gun at Soren, getting ready to fire.

"Wait!" Corin yelled, stepping in front of Chen's gun.

"Get out of the way, Corin," Nova ordered.

"I can't do that," he said firmly, not flinching or moving from the spot.

"You want to talk about saving lives?" Chen asked. "I can save a lot of lives with just one bullet."

"And I can save just as many lives plus one more if you let me do this!" Corin snapped.

Nova looked at Corin, thinking about what he said. She, personally, thought it was too late for talk. But, if there was a peaceful solution she wanted to take it.

"Let him talk, Chen," she finally ordered. Hearing this, Soren turned around, looking at Corin in the eye.

"He could end this right here and now," Soren said. "But, you won't let him."

"Because I have a choice," Corin said. "And I choose to save as many lives as I can, including yours. You have a choice too. You can choose to spare the lives of these people."

Soren stared at the generator, his hand still floating in front of the wires. He had dreamed of this moment for as long as he could remember. He tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling as if he was looking at the sky to address some higher power.

Finally, he slowly raised his hands in the air.

Corin felt a wave of relief sweep through his body as the fierri soldiers cautiously moved in for the arrest. Martin gave a relieved sigh as he, Chen, and Nova lowered their guns.

"Hey, does saving an alien civilization count as saving the world?" Martin joked. "Cuz, I want to start keeping track of this." Nova gave a stifled laugh as Chen just groaned.

-.-

The event horizon of the active stargate cast a gentle blue in the warehouse where it was stored. Nova and her team were assembled in front of the gate with Crux and Prime Minister Pavell standing in front of them. Time had run out and it was time to return to the Millennium.

"I'm sorry we cannot provide more assistance," Nova said at the base of the ramp that lead up to the stargate.

"We understand," Pavell said earnestly. "However, we do appreciate your assistance in our affairs. As a token of our appreciation…" Pavell gave Crux a look and the alien soldier reached behind him and pulled out a small crate. Crux opened the lid, revealing a quarium generator nestled within.

Chen felt a smile spread across his face as he graciously took the generator. It wasn't as powerful as a ZPM but it was another power source they could use.

"Keep the trazers," Crux said, gesturing toward the alien weapons that the team still had slung over their shoulders. "Another symbol of our gratitude."

"What about Soren?" Corin asked curiously.

"He's alive," Crux said. "But, he will have to stand trial for a mountain of crimes that seem to grow larger every minute."

"I'm not saying that he shouldn't be punished for what he did," Corin said. "But, I think, like your people, he deserves a second chance." Crux paused to think about what Corin said. He had no control on the outcome of the trial but he could make a few suggestions for Soren's punishment.

"I understand that our alliance was not the most successful," Pavell announced. "But, perhaps in time we can mend whatever mistrust was formed in these past few days."

Chen gave a small bow. Corin just gave a quick wave. The team turned and began walking up the ramp toward the shimmering event horizon of the stargate.

"First time off world, Doctor?" Nova asked Osborn as they approached the wall of water.

"Is it always this exciting?" Osborn asked eagerly, almost jealous that she had to spend most of her time in the medical labs.

"Yeah, pretty much," Nova replied.

Corin quickly sidestepped to Chen, trying to read his emotionless expression.

"Hey, about what happened back there," Corin said, referring to the incident in the tunnels. "Sorry, I had to do that…with the…you know."

Corin got worried when Chen remained silent.

"Winning a battle shows competence," Chen finally spoke. "Winning a battle without fighting shows true skill." Corin looked at Chen with a slight hint of confusion.

"Who said that?" he asked.

"I just did," came the reply. "Good job back there." Corin smiled, glad that his friend approved. "Well, I'm going to be up all night tying this thing into the Millennium's power systems.

As the team approached the shimmering wall of water, Corin gave one more glance behind him before finally stepping through. There was a whoosh as the event horizon vanished, the warehouse darkening once again.

-.-

The debriefing that followed the mission went as any other debriefing did: each team member told what happened from their point of view and their opinions as things occurred.

Once the debriefing was over, Martin quickly made his way to General Mercer's office. It was a small office between the conference room and the control room, easy to access from both locations.

Martin peeked into Mercer's office. Last time he was in here, they were still busy settling in so it was packed with boxes and crates. Now that everything was settled, Martin laid his eyes on the new office for the first time.

The office walls were a bright shade of turquoise. He didn't see any lights; it was as if the walls were glowing and illuminating the whole office. The desk looked like polished blue marble. In fact, it almost looked like a piece of a Pegasus stargate turned into a table. A monitor made of a blue crystal hung from the wall in front of the desk Martin noticed the window under the monitor, overseeing the gate room. A red carpet was laid out in front of the desk as if to greet everyone who entered the office.

Mercer had decorated the room to fit his personal tastes. This included a set of red curtains that hung above the window, currently open so he could see the stargate. Mercer's medals and ribbons hung in cases on the walls along with numerous certificates and awards. It was almost stunning to see how extensive Mercer's career was, though not surprising considering how old he was.

Another thing that Martin's attention was the case hanging on the wall behind General Mercer, which held a pair of M1902 Calvary Sabers. The silver curved-bladed swords had a small handle, made for being gripped with one hand. This would mean that General Mercer was once a Ceremonial Guardsman. Though, it wouldn't explain the other set of sabers that lay against his desk.

"Lieutenant Martin!" Mercer called out in a warm welcome. "Please, come in."

Martin almost jumped at his name being called. He cautiously walked into the room, still examining the cases on the walls.

"Would you like some tea?" Mercer offered, gesturing toward a platter of china cups full of steaming hot tea.

"I'm a…more of a coffee person," Martin stuttered.

"If you're sure," Mercer said in a steady but cheerful voice, gently taking a cup and drinking from it.

"Sir," Martin started off. "I wanted to apologize for…earlier." Mercer gave a slight chuckle at that statement.

"Some would consider your tone and attitude insubordination," Mercer pointed out. He casually picked up the swords that lay against his desk and hid them behind it. "However, apology is unnecessary." Martin looked up in surprise. "I've been in the Air Force for a long time, Lieutenant. There was a time I was the one disagreeing with the commanding officer."

"When was that?" Martin asked, trying as hard as he could to not sound insulting. Seeing Mercer right now, it was almost impossible to imagine him in a position receiving orders.

"Many lifetimes ago," Mercer replied with a smile before taking another sip of his tea. Before another word could be said, a clock on Mercer's desk began chirping.

"Speaking of which," Mercer said slowly walking for the door. "It's now sunset." Martin looked up in surprise and eagerly followed Mercer out the door. One thing that is obvious about the General is his slow and casual walk. It's kinda hard to fall behind walking with him. Slowly but surely, the two of them made their way to the closest balcony. Martin noticed the rest of his team were already there. Nova, Corin, and Chen were already at the balcony with a small crowd of other people staring up at the sky…well, the closest thing Millennium had to a sky. As Martin and Mercer stepped onto the balcony, Martin could not help but gape.

"How'd you pull this one off?" Martin asked Chen as he and Mercer stepped outside. "Sunset's come earlier than normal."

"Well," Chen explained. "I suspect the nebula surrounding Millennium is artificial. It was put there once the space station was done. The particles inside the nebula are continuously interacting with each other, building up energy. Once the energy has reached a certain limit, it releases it in the form of light and heat."

"The day cycle," Nova said, listening to Steven explain the phenomena before them.

"It releases energy faster than it is built up. Night's when it stops releasing its stored energy. The Millennium has some controls to alter the particles in the cloud. I just tweaked it to fit our twenty-four hour day. "

Chen chuckled triumphantly as he stared at the sky. All over the central city of the Millennium station, people were gathering on the balconies in the tower. The four massive arms of the stations obscured some of the view but everyone could see the glittering rainbow of colors from the dimming nebula as the night cycle slowly fell over the city. Sparkling particles of dust danced around in the clouds as they released their final little burst of light and energy.

-.-

Hours had passed since the aliens left through the giant ring, which was now surrounded by dozens of fierri soldiers, all of them whispering among themselves why they were suddenly assembled. Many pointed and gawked at the stargate, wondering what it was.

"May I have your attention," Crux boomed as he made his way to the stargate, turning to face the troops. Everyone quickly feel silent to listen.

"One hundred years ago, our ancestors committed an act of pure evil," Crux announced. "We, today, bear the punishment of their crimes. No more. Decades ago, our ancestors once created a top-secret program that involved instantaneous travel to other solar systems by means of a device known as the stargate."

The soldiers began whispering among themselves when they heard this, concluding that that must be what the giant ring was.

"They shut the program down because they believed the dangers of what lay out amongst the stars to be too great," Crux continued. "Today, we reopen the gate! Our objective: to explore and chart the galaxy, to form new alliances with alien civilizations. If there is there is a cure for the punishments our ancestors wrought upon us, it lies out there amongst the stars. Today, we restart the Stargate Program."


End file.
